The Tides of Time
by Lunar Berserker
Summary: At the appearance of a strange man with hidden motives, Sora is forced out of Destiny Islands into a past era Traverse Town where he befriends allies that he'd never imagined. Sora discovers that not only can one travel through Corridors of Darkness to access other worlds, but ride the very tides of time themselves. Sequel to KH2; Vanitas/Xion. No yaoi.
1. Strange Faces

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts related.

Authors Note: Okay! This is my first attempt at writing a Kingdom Hearts fic, and I hope I'm coming off as Sora okay. I also would like to thank my beta reader, Mystics Apprentice, for doing such a great job with this chapter :)

Anyway, please read and review, I would love to know what you think!

Chapter One: Strange Faces

I opened my eyes to find sharp rays of sunlight spreading across my face and throughout my room. I yawned and rolled over, finally noticing the noise that had woken me up from one of the best dreams I had ever had. I stretched, trying to remember exactly what that dream had been; it had been really cool, though I could only remember bits and pieces of it. I think it had had something to do with my two best friends (Riku, who was one year my senior, and Kairi, who was almost exactly the same age as me).

Hmm, we were going to visit someone…but as for who we were going to visit, I couldn't remember. I gave up trying to decipher the rest of my dream, and instead sat up and reached over towards my nightstand to grab my alarm clock (the source of noise that had woke me up from my very nice dream). I flipped the switch on the top to the 'off' position, and slowly got out of bed.

I went over to my window to look out it, and I let out a sharp gasp in surprise. True the sun was shining, but that was about the only thing that looked right about that morning. The sand was an odd mix between the colors of purple and tan, and there really wasn't a whole lot of my island left - most of it had crumbled away into nothingness.

I ran out of my room and bolted down the hall to my parents' bedroom. I began to frantically pound on their door.

"MOM!" I yelled, but I didn't wait for a response as I opened the door and ran in anyway. Nobody was there, so I proceeded on to the bathroom, which door was already open. Much to my dismay, I found no one in there either.

I left their room, and went to the front door in a rather panicked state. As I slowly walked down the walkway which led away from my house and out towards the street, my mind was racing to think of what I could do. No one was where they should've been, and everything was falling apart. What was going on?

I heard an odd sound from behind me, which made me whirl around to find its source. My eyes widened upon what I found there: it was an odd figure clad almost entirely in black, wearing a long coat; just like the ones belonging to Organization XIII!

I automatically pulled out my Keyblade.

"Who are you?" I demanded, while pointing my Keyblade at his chest, "and what do you want?"

The man made a motion to step forward, but seemed to think better of it.

"There isn't time for a long explanation, I'm afraid," the dark figure responded. "And as for who I am…I'm not someone that you have met before, but-" He was cut off by the ground giving a violent shake, which almost threw me off my feet.

The stranger swiftly glanced around, and then before I could make any move to stop him, he had grabbed me by my shoulder and shoved me back into a portal unlike any I had ever seen before. It seemed to be made up of neither light nor darkness.

"HEY!" I yelled, as I quickly scrambled to get up and out of the portal. "Wha-"

I stopped mid-sentence as my vision began to grow fuzzy. I felt as though I were spinning through an odd light show, until suddenly everything started to fade.

"I am sorry, Sora, but you cannot stay here. Your world is fading, as well as every other world out there. _You must save us!_"

Those were the last words I heard before everything blacked out entirely.

...

"Sora!"

"Is he okay?"

"Come on, Sora."

I opened my eyes a crack; everything was a bit foggy, and it took me a moment to bring the faces that were staring down at me into focus. I grinned once I had made one of them out - it was Kairi.

I forced myself up and into a sitting position. "Kairi! I had the strangest dream! There was this man, he told me that-"

I stopped mid-sentence and looked around. There were several other people watching me, one was my best friend, Riku. But there were others as well, some that looked oddly familiar, and others that didn't.

"I'm really glad that you're okay, we were really worried," Kairi said, smiling at me with a look of relief.

"What was this about your dream?" Riku asked me, looking thoughtful. "Was he dressed in black? Because I saw a strange man too, only…it wasn't a dream."

"You saw him too then?" I asked, my face falling in disappointment. Darn, I had hoped that it was just a dream.

"He said that all the worlds were fading. I mean, do you think he was telling the truth?" I further asked.

Riku looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, I think he was telling the truth, Sora. When I'd looked out my window last night, I didn't see as many worlds as usual. I was going to tell you when I saw you today, but I never got the chance. I _knew_ that I should've told you yesterday though, but I didn't. Now our island's gone-" Riku paused and looked at the ground, "-_again_… I wonder who's destroying the worlds now."

Riku glanced around, his turquoise eyes falling upon each person in turn. "We've asked around, and none of them know, either."

I glanced around to see where we were at. It looked a lot like Traverse Town, though not exactly. We were surrounded by tall buildings on either side of us, but they weren't kept up as nicely as the ones in Traverse Town; these almost looked as if they could crumble on us at any second.

Once I had finished taking in our surroundings, I started examining our other companions, one of which had gotten up and walked over to me. He was probably about my age, perhaps a year older, with a thick layer of bangs concealing one side of his face. Riku glared at him as he walked up.

"What do _you_ want?" Riku demanded, his glare unmoved as the guy stopped in front of us.

He glanced irritably at Riku and then ignoring his question, held out a hand for me to shake.

"Hello," he greeted pleasantly, his steel-colored bangs falling gently from his face as he bent down so that he could shake my hand from where I remained sitting on the ground. "It is very nice to meet you, my name is-"

He paused, smiling and looking thoughtful. "You can call me Ienzo," he finished, as I reached up a hand to shake his.

"Ienzo, huh?" spoke up Riku, his turquoise eyes still glaring daggers at Ienzo. "Decide to change your name, did you?"

Ienzo turned to face him, looking somewhat annoyed as he released my hand.

"I have not _changed _it," Ienzo retorted. "My other name just does not currently suit me."

"Ah, I see," Riku replied, "and may I ask _why_ it doesn't suit you right now?"

"Because I am no longer a Nobody," Ienzo explained flatly. " 'Zexion' is only my Nobody name, so-"

He drew in a breath and continued, "Since I have my heart back now, I see no reason why I should go by my other name."

Ienzo then turned back to face me. I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by someone else.

" A Nobody? What do you mean by that exactly?" spoke up someone who was probably around the age of twenty. He had long, platinum-blonde hair of which fell just past his shoulders and bright-green eyes, reminding me of the color of emeralds.

"Who are you?" I asked him. He looked familiar, though I couldn't figure out from where.

He didn't even glance in my direction, but instead stood awaiting a response from Ienzo.

The steel-haired teen finally turned to face him and answered calmly, "A Nobody is a being that has lost their heart. It does not happen very often, for in order to become a Nobody the human must have a very strong heart, and even then … it is much more ordinary for someone to turn into a Heartless." Ienzo paused, looking at the young man who had asked the question.

"The majority will just fade with their world."

"Really?" the man clarified.

Ienzo nodded, now looking faintly amused.

"How interesting… how _very_ interesting. And other worlds have faded into nonexistence, you say?" the man went on, looking very intrigued.

Ienzo chuckled, watching the expression on the man's face.

"I had thought that you would have known this already, Even," Ienzo said smirking. " What with all of your studies that you've completed."

Even scowled and crossed his arms. Ienzo seemed to think this was rather funny and laughed, leaving Even looking even more offended.

"Yes, Even; some worlds have faded before, or I should say… mostly in _your_ future," Ienzo told him.

I tilted my head and looked at them. What could they mean by 'his future'?

" Umm, what exactly do you mean by 'his future?'" I asked Ienzo the question that I'd been pondering. Before he could answer, however, someone else piped up.

"Well, while you were over there getting your beauty rest," he chuckled, "the rest of us figured out what's going on here."

I scowled, and he laughed even harder, looking as though he were thoroughly enjoying himself.

Kairi gave him a dark look, and then turned to me.

"Don't mind him; he just seems to enjoy being rude," Kairi informed me, smiling.

He was still grinning at me from where he sat on a crate.

"Who is he?" I asked her. "All of these people look so familiar… almost as if - I've met them."

"Well, his name is Braig, but apart from that and him being _rude_, I really don't know that much about him," Kairi told me. "And you _have_ met many of these people before, they're who made up most of Organization XIII. Except these are there past selves, and they all have their hearts right now."

Ienzo turned back to us again,

"Correct, most of us are members of Organization XIII. Although, most people here have no concept that they ever joined such an organization," Ienzo explained, sweeping his long bangs out of his face with a gloved hand.

So _that's_ why I recognized most everyone here; except their explanations still didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

"So you're Zexion, huh?" I asked the steel-haired guy, who nodded in response. I had heard plenty about him; apparently he had been pretty mean to Riku in Castle Oblivion, considering Riku hated him.

Now that I knew most of these people were members of Organization XIII, I could better discern who they all were. Even, who was still glowering at everybody, must be a much younger version of Vexen, especially since they both wore the same expression. Wait, had I ever even met a Vexen before? Oh, well.

As for the one sitting on the crate grinning at me… I would guess he was either Xaldin or Xigbar, but gauging from his big grin and overall attitude, I would guess the latter. A short ways away from me I saw someone with bright-red hair speaking to someone with blue hair, whose shade was nearly equally as bright. I was pretty sure that I knew who they were.

There was another person standing over by Vexen (aka Even) who was glaring at everyone with an expression similar to that of Even's.

"_Aha!_" I thought. "_That must be Xaldin._" There were some people that I couldn't quite place, such as a person with pink hair that distinctly reminded me of flower petals. Another was a girl with silvery-blue hair, who caught my eye and smiled. I grinned back.

Just then a horrible thought struck me. I quickly turned and caught Riku's eye.

"Riku, we can't stay here. I mean we're surrounded by members of Organization XIII!" I half-whispered urgently. "We should take Kairi and go!"

Across the way, the guy with the pink hair laughed sarcastically.

"Don't worry, we won't harm you," he said dryly. "I don't even know _who _you are."

He _did _look like he was telling the truth, but still...there was something that I didn't like about him.

"Oh really?" I asked frowning. "And what's your name?"

"Marluxia," he answered, tossing his hair away from his face. "You're Sora, correct?"

"Yep, that's right," I told him.

The name Marluxia sounded familiar as well... Ugh; everything was starting to hurt my head.

"Unlike Ienzo there, I see no reason to switch back to my previous name," Marluxia informed me.

"Well!" spoke up Even from where he stood with his back against the wall, " I think we have all discussed things long enough." He clapped his hands together.

"Someone needs to go and investigate where we are." Even looked around at the gathering, his green eyes resting on each of us in turn.

Ienzo opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

"I'll go!" I said, jumping up quickly, perhaps a little to quickly since the floor almost came up to meet me. I fought to stay on my feet as everything swam in front of my eyes.

"Heh, you're going to go around and investigate while you're still in your pj's?" laughed Braig.

I looked down at my clothes, he was right; I was still dressed in my pajamas, my favorite ones with Mickey, Donald and Goofy all over them. I guess I would look a little funny walking down the street dressed like this, but not _that_ strange. In fact, I thought I would look a great deal less strange then most everyone there.

I crossed my arms and frowned at Braig.

"I'll do it!"

I looked around to see who had spoken; it was the redhead I had noticed earlier. He had gotten up from his corner.

"Axel?" I asked aloud. He turned to face me and grinned.

"Nope, I'm Lea." The redhead paused and tapped a finger to the side of his head. "_Got it memorized?_"

I laughed; that was definitely Axel, only a bit younger. Lea turned to face Even.

"We'll go and investigate," Lea informed Even, jerking his hand back toward the blue-haired guy he had been speaking to before. He then turned to face him. "Coming Isa?"

"I'm right behind you," the blue-haired guy replied, casually walking up to him.

Without awaiting a response from Even, they both turned the corner and were out of sight.

I glanced back over towards my friends. Kairi met my eye and smiled, which I returned with a faint one and sat down beside her.

"Ugh, I'm beginning to wonder if this is all just a very strange dream," I told her. She smiled sympathetically at me.

"You know what, Sora?" Riku asked. I looked over at him; he was sitting on Kairi's other side.

"No, what?" I asked tilting my head to the side.

"I've been wondering the exact same thing."

It was probably about an hour an a half later when I started hearing a sound similar to that of a guitar coming from around a crate nearby. I got on my hands and knees and peered around the side to see who was playing the instrument. It was another person whom I recognized right away; Demyx, number IX of Organization XIII, was leaning against a wall and playing his Sitar. He looked to be about the age I had last seen him.

I turned to see Ienzo walking back over to us again, (he had just gone to see if Lea and Isa were on there way back yet).

"I didn't see them anywhere," Ienzo informed us. "But this world looks pretty big, it could take them a while to get back."

Riku sighed and made his Keyblade, _t__he Way to the Dawn_, appear. He then started swinging it up, down and around through the empty air, obviously very bored.

Riku wasn't the only one though. I think pretty much everyone here was at least a little bored. Braig had even stopped his rude comments and was now opening the crate he had been sitting on top of. Ienzo seemed to notice him as well.

"I wouldn't go snooping through that if I were you. We do not know what is in it, nor whom it belongs to," Ienzo told him disapprovingly.

Braig scowled, and slid the lid shut again.

"It's just some grains anyway," he told Ienzo grumpily.

I turned toward Ienzo.

"Hey, Ienzo?" I asked him. He turned towards me and smiled,

"Yes?"

"Why is it that some people here are younger then I remember them, and others aren't?" I asked.

That didn't make a whole lot of since to me.

"Well, I'm not entirely certain… All we really know is that everyone was sent here by some hooded figure, and told to help _you_ save all the worlds," Ienzo replied, and then glanced over at Riku.

"Would you happen to know why he dislikes me so much?" Ienzo asked, his blue eyes thoughtful.

"Well, You know Castle Oblivion, right?" I asked. Ienzo nodded.

So, I told him what I knew about the events that went on within Castle Oblivion, or at least what Riku had told me about it. I had gone there too, but I couldn't remember any of it. Apparently that was because of the work of a girl named Namine -_Kairi's_ Nobody.

When I had finished the story, Ienzo nodded, and glanced over at Marluxia.

"That makes since...I suppose. It certainly does sound like something Marluxia would do," Ienzo said thoughtfully. "Thank you for explaining that to me."

I nodded, and glanced over at Marluxia as well. He was sitting down, writing words on the ground with flower petals that he summoned out of thin air. He seemed oblivious to what we were discussing.

Even suddenly unfolded his arms and stepped forward towards Isa, who had just turned the corner.

"Well, that certainly took you long enough. What kept you?" Even demanded, his emerald-green eyes flicking upon some people that had just walked up behind the blue-haired teen.

"You aren't gonna _believe _what time period we're in!" Lea exclaimed, grinning broadly.


	2. Vanitas?

Authors Note: I will be changing between some people's point of views within this fic, I hope it doesn't get too confusing. Please read and review, thanks!

**Twilight's Shadow**: My first review ever! Thanks so much :)

**Kari Suttle**: Thanks for the review :) I'm glad you liked it thus far.

Thanks so much for beta'ing Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Two: Vanitas

"I'll give you a little hint," Lea said with a grin that stretched a mile wide. "We're all in a time long before your great, great, great, _great_-"

"Grandfather," Isa finished for him. "Honestly, Lea, if you go back any farther we _will_ be in their time period."

Lea looked a little crestfallen, glancing back towards the people that had walked up along with him.

"Well… Anyhow, we found some more folks that were sent back in time the same as us," Lea told Even, waving a hand back at the newcomers.

The girl I had noticed earlier with the silvery-blue hair suddenly jumped up and ran over to the two teenagers that had appeared behind Lea and Isa.

"Terra!" she exclaimed in surprise, smiling radiantly at the tall brunette teen that was approaching.

The teen she was referring to as Terra looked over, his face breaking into a wide grin as he walked over to her. Another teen trailed after him, who also was grinning broadly.

I did a double-take when I saw him; the second teen was Roxas, _my_ Nobody! But that didn't make any sense... How could _Roxas_ be walking around? He was supposed to be inside of _me_, not walking around as a second person. But...I guess it made enough sense, considering that Riku and me had previously gotten rid of the members of Organization XIII and they were walking around, Roxas might as well be walking around, too.

"Oi! Roxas!" I yelled, waving in his direction, but he didn't seem to notice me as he continued talking with Terra and the girl.

"Yeah, this is pretty weird. Apparently we're like in the fourteenth century or something," I overheard Terra telling the girl with silvery-blue hair.

_THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY!_ I caught Riku's eye and grinned.

"Riku! We're in the fourteenth century!" I informed him excitedly.

"Yeah, I heard," Riku said nodding towards Lea, who was speaking enthusiastically with Even and Ienzo. "They were just talking about it."

Then, noticing the look of excitement in my eye, he added, "It's nothing to get excited over, the fourteenth century isn't that great."

"I know. But we're in a different time period! That's really cool, don't you think?" I asked, turning towards Riku and Kairi.

Kairi's crystal-blue eyes held concern, but she only smiled at me and replied, "Yeah…a little."

I glanced back at Riku again, only he didn't look convinced. I sighed; was I the only one who found this exciting? I had only been in the past once before, but that was different, _and _it was only in Mickey Mouse's retro world. This was way cooler!

I looked over towards Roxas, Terra and the girl. They had sat down a ways away from us, and were still deep in conversation. Lea and Isa were standing over by Even and Ienzo, and, partly out of boredom, I started listening in on what was being said.

"Well, we found an inn," Isa was telling Even with a funny expression on his face.

"That's good to hear," spoke up Xaldin for the first time since we'd arrived, his face finally leaving his usual scowl. I was pretty sure that that _was_ Xaldin now; he looked and sounded just like him.

Lea was grinning again. "Good luck getting them to take your munny!" he told Xaldin. "The munny here looks _pretty different_!"

Ienzo's blue eyes looked upon the two thoughtfully.

"Then… I do not really know what we are going to do," Ienzo said, turning towards Even. "Any thoughts?"

"The fourteenth century…how intriguing... I need to get some samples!" Even said, his emerald-green eyes glittering with excitement. I got the impression that he hadn't been paying attention to what anyone had said after Lea mentioned the time period that we were in.

Ienzo chuckled, shaking his head. "Typical."

"_Really?_ Some samples, Even?" asked Braig sarcastically, raising his eyebrows. "I bet those are _really_ going to help us right now."

Even, seeming to snap out of it, turned a glare towards Braig.

"Do you have any idea just how _pleased_ the people in our time era will be with samples from the fourteenth century?" Even asked Braig irritably, as if Braig had no common sense whatsoever.

Braig shrugged, looking as if he really couldn't care less, while Ienzo still seemed to be lost in thought. The eyes of the steel haired teen lit up as he turned towards Even.

"I have an idea…except it might not work," Ienzo informed Even.

But when Even failed to even look up, Ienzo glanced towards Xaldin, who remained standing by the elder blonde.

"I think I might be able to negotiate a few rooms for us all," he told Xaldin. "If they will not listen to reason, then we must resort to plan B."

Now just what 'plan B' was, I didn't know...and I was partly afraid to find out.

…

I was sitting on the top of the clock-tower, eating a bar of sea-salt ice cream as I watched the sun set below the horizon. I glanced towards my right to find my two best friends sitting beside me, also enjoying their ice cream. I felt extremely happy, for at this moment everything was perfect. I wished that it could stay this way forever with just the three of us sitting up here, watching the sunset and eating our ice cream.

Yet, things could never stay perfect forever. Something almost always seemed to go wrong, and sometimes it was in the worst way possible. Take me, Roxas and Axel for instance: Roxas had been taken by DiZ and Riku, and was now reunited with Sora, who didn't even remember Axel or me. Axel, last I had heard, was still playing his role as assassin within Organization XIII. Then there was me… I was gone; the last of me had been sealed within Sora forever. _No one_ remembered me anymore, not Roxas and not Axel. But, I still thought I'd made the right choice; Sora _did_ have more of a right to live then Roxas and me did. He especially had more of a right than me, as I was just a puppet meant to steal Roxas's powers and take his place within the organization.

I sighed and looked down at my now-melting ice cream. All of those events seemed like they had taken place so long ago now. How long had it _really_ been? Had Sora won the fight against Xemnas? Or was Xemnas now ruling the world with the power of Kingdom Hearts? There were so many questions that I wanted answered, yet I had finally come to terms with the fact that I would likely never get to know the answer to any of them.

I glanced back over to where Roxas and Axel were sitting, only to find that they both were gone! I looked around frantically, but they were nowhere in sight. Had they left through a portal? But we would always RTC together! They wouldn't just leave me here without saying goodbye, would they? I looked around one more time, and my eyes widened in surprise at what I saw: Roxas was back! He grinned at me and extended a hand.

I smiled back and quickly jumped up. I started to take a step forward towards him, until suddenly I froze mid-step. There was nothing to step _on_! Roxas appeared to be standing in midair, directly in front of the clock tower and far above the town.

"Don't be afraid," Roxas told me encouragingly, as he took a step in my direction.

I glanced nervously at the ground far below; I couldn't see how he was standing up there supported by nothing. I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes shut and stepped off of the edge of the platform.

I opened my eyes to find myself standing on something solid. I hadn't fallen through after all! It was almost as if there was some kind of invisible platform beneath us. I looked up and grinned at Roxas, who was watching me with an outstretched hand. I rushed towards him almost at a run, the wind roaring in my ears as I picked up speed. Maybe it was just my imagination, but he seemed to be getting farther away with every couple steps I took. I was still gaining on him, though, and I was almost there when I caught a glimpse of the ground below us. Only it was no longer the town that was beneath us, but water instead. It looked like an ocean, for only water stretched as far as the eye could see.

I sped up, hurrying towards Roxas again. My heart was pounding heavily as I started to get extremely nervous by this point. I held out my hand towards Roxas, I could _almost_ reach him…

Then I began falling - falling down into the ocean below. I tried desperately to grab onto something, but there was nothing to grab on to. I squeezed my eyes shut again; I didn't like the look of the water coming towards me at this alarming speed.

I had been falling for what seemed like an eternity when I felt something cold and wet touch my forehead. Wait a minute, that couldn't be right - this thing that was wet felt like a solid object, and no other part of me was getting wet at all.

I decided to take a risk and opened my eyes, my eyelids feeling very heavy as I forced them open a crack. I was in a dimly-lit room, and someone was wiping a damp cloth across my forehead. It was a man who looked to be about in his early fifties, wearing a look of deep concern as he continued to dab at my face with the cloth.

I forced myself to sit up, watching the man confusedly. He sat back and removed the cloth from my head, the wrinkles surrounding his eyes becoming more obvious as he smiled at me.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly.

"Where am I?" I asked him urgently. Why was I here? I had thought I was going to be landing in an ocean, not in a room of some sort. Where exactly had Roxas gone?

"Well, you're in my house," he told me. "I found you lying on the shoreline not far from here."

_"He found me by the shoreline,"_ I thought to myself. Did that mean I had fallen into that ocean after all? But what about Roxas, was he here as well?

I glanced around the room in search for some sign of Roxas. After a more thorough observation than I'd done previously, I discovered this wasn't only a room, but instead it appeared to be an entire house instead - a very small one. I could see a small kitchen area from where I sat, which only consisted of a stove, one cabinet, a small table and a rather tiny refrigerator. To the right of the kitchen I could see a large shelf containing an odd assortment of bottles in all different shapes and sizes.

But there was no sign of Roxas.

"Was there another person with me?" I asked the man, who shook his head in response.

"No, you were alone when I found you. Had someone else been with you?" he asked me.

"Yes...I think so."

I thought back to the previous events of that day, and couldn't help but wonder if Roxas had really been there? Or was all of that just a dream?

The man was watching me curiously.

"Are you from another world?" he asked me, curiosity filling his tone.

I was surprised by this, since most people didn't know other worlds even existed. I wondered where the man had learnt this, or perhaps he was from a world other then this one himself.

"I - I'm not sure," I answered, feeling as though I wasn't making any sense at all. " Umm, yes, I think so."

The man's bright, emerald-green eyes lit up in delight as he asked me excitedly, "Really? What's your world called?"

"Well…I guess my home world would be Castle Oblivion," I told him thoughtfully. "But the world I had lived in was known as The World That Never Was."

I watched the expression on the man's face carefully, waiting to see how he would take my response, yet he still looked overjoyed.

"Hmm, I haven't heard of either of those," he told me, his expression looking thoughtful. "But I'm also from another world; mine was called Radiant Garden."

I had heard of that world before… I think one of the members in the Organization was from there, if not more then one.

"It sounds nice," I told the man. "Are there many gardens there?"

"Oh yes! There are tons of them. That whole world is almost filled with gardens," he told me, relishing in the memory. "There was this one area not far from the castle that belonged to the Sage King, my older brother's teacher. That whole area was simply beautiful; there were many fountains there that seemed to give off an almost pink aura. I can't quite put into words just how lovely it was there."

He then turned towards me. "I'm sorry, I went a bit off topic didn't I?" he murmured, smiling apologetically towards me.

"Oh, its okay. It sounds really nice," I assured him, returning the smile. "You sound like you really miss it there."

He nodded, looking lost in thought.

"I do, very much," he replied sadly. "How did you get here, by the way? Perhaps we could leave the same way?" He looked hopefully at me.

"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure how I got here," I replied.

How had I gotten here exactly? And what world was I in? I decided to ask the man.

"What's this world called?" I asked, curiously tilting my head to one side.

"I don't know of any name for this world, though I suppose it had a name once…not many people live here, I'm afraid," he told me, sadness creeping into his eyes once more. "Only myself and five others."

I had never heard of any such world, and I was a bit surprised that there _could_ only be a few people alone living in a single world.

We both sat in silence for some time, the man appearing to be lost in thought. I sat on the bed, not quite sure what was going on. Where had Roxas gone? Was I really myself again? I considered all these things while I fiddled with the quilt that lay on top of me. It was a very nice quilt, though worn down a bit. After we'd both been sitting lost in thought for about ten minutes, the man smiled at me and stood up.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked me, already straying towards his small kitchen.

"Umm, okay, thank you," I replied, still feeling a bit scatterbrained.

"Okay then, it'll be ready in just a sec," he told me, as he picked up a tea kettle from the cabinet. "By the way, what's your name?"

I watched him fill the kettle with water and then work his way over to the stove.

"Oh sorry, my na-"

I was cut off by a strange sound coming from just behind the man. I recognized that sound! It was someone opening up a portal! I squinted, trying to make out who was there.

It was… But no, that couldn't be right. A boy was standing at the entrance to the kitchen. His familiar, spiky hair was quite dark, or perhaps it was just the lighting that made it appear so.

"Sora!" I gasped in surprise. What was he doing here? And how had he opened the portal?

Sora, with a Keyblade in hand, had just appeared through the portal. He twirled his weapon in the air so that he was holding it by the end, and that's when I suddenly realized what he was about to do.

"Watch out!" I yelled to the man as I quickly swung my feet out of the bed.

But I was too late - the man lay unconscious on the floor, having been hit on the top of the head by the handle of the Keyblade. I turned to Sora, my lips parting slightly. He glanced up at me, and my eyes met his gold ones. I let out a gasp moments before he spoke.

"Sora?" he asked sarcastically, his gold eyes sparkling with rage and hatred. "Oh, I suppose I do look a bit like him. But no, I'm not _Sora_."

I had already realized this once I had gotten a closer look at his eyes. Sora's eyes were blue, while this boy's were definitely not. I stood up unsteadily and took a step towards him.

"Then - who are you?" I asked timidly.

He strode across the house towards me, kicking aside the teakettle (which had previously fallen onto the floor) as he went.

"Vanitas," he told me dismally, now standing directly in front of me.

He looked _so much _like Sora. Perhaps he was a relative? He looked almost exactly like the boy, except Vanitas had ebony-black hair, pallid skin and gold, fearsome eyes.

"You have to come with me," he said, as though he were discussing the weather.

"Why?" I asked, backing up until I hit the wall; he didn't look like a person that I should trust willingly.

"My master would like a word with you. And if you don't come quietly, I'll just have to make you," he told me as a grin crept over his face, only it wasn't a nice sort of grin.

I thought this over for a moment; maybe I should trust him? Though he looked as if he might be in league with Xemnas, and I certainly didn't want to go back _there_ again.

"Where is your master?" I asked while the ebony-haired boy stood there watching me.

"I don't like questions," he told me irritably, grabbing hold of my arm. "You're coming with me and that's that."

I tried to tug my arm from his grasp, but he was a bit stronger then I was.

As I struggled to break away, the man stirred from where he lay sprawled across the ground and let out a soft groan. Vanitas glanced swiftly towards him, and then opened another portal, engulfing us and taking us to the Lanes Between and out of the previous world entirely.

...

Vanitas started to walk briskly down the dark corridor that he had taken us through. When I failed to follow he turned around and glared at me.

"Are you _coming_?" he asked, looking irritated as he made his way back over to me. Upon reaching me he once again grabbed a hold of my arm, only this time he gave it a squeeze, and these odd throbbing pains filled my arm as he let go. I gasped and clutched my arm where the throbbing sensation was still making its way through my arm from where he had grabbed it, and all the way down to my fingertips.

"Wha - what did you do?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

"Heh, that was just a taste of what I'll do to you - if you still won't follow me," he told me threateningly, looking as though he were enjoying the horrified expression upon my face.

I decided to follow him after that, since there was no I could fight him. He was _way_ stronger then I was.

We trekked through the dark corridors for some time, Vanitas glancing over his shoulder at me every few minutes to check that I was still there, until at last we rounded a corner where there was an opening in the wall of the corridor. Vanitas shoved me through and then followed himself.

We were in what looked like a cave now. Up ahead there was another portal, this one a bit different, looking to be an odd gray color. I had never seen a portal like it before; it was nothing like the one we had just come from.

"Step into it," Vanitas instructed, waiting behind me as he prompted me to go into the strange portal first. I glanced back at him one last time before reluctantly stepping into it, Vanitas quickly following suit. Once we were both inside the portal, he waved a hand and the way back out of the dark hole vanished. I closed my eyes as everything started spinning around me.

I landed on solid ground a few moments later, and then slowly opened my eyes. I was a little dizzy, and felt as though I had been spinning for a very _long_ time.

"We're there," Vanitas told me, gesturing towards a large castle that we stood just outside of. "I'll take you to where you'll be staying."

I closed my eyes briefly in an attempt to stop feeling so dizzy. Vanitas had already started to walk away, and I didn't want him to catch me staying behind again so I followed quickly. We walked around to the side of the castle, and he opened a side door, gesturing for me to go through it. I obeyed begrudgingly and slipped into the castle. Vanitas followed me, shutting and locking the door behind him as he went. He then led me through an odd series of dark corridors where there were many steps. It was so dark that it was hard to make out anything, but I could tell that we were going very far down.

Finally, Vanitas came to an abrupt halt. I bumped into him, not noticing that he had come to a pause in front of a door till it was too late. He turned and looked at me curiously as he swung open the door. I stepped back quickly in response. I then peered inside the place he had taken me. He was holding the door open for me to walk through, and I hesitantly took a few steps inside, not wanting to disobey him in fear of what he might do to me. It was no easier to see in here then it had been in those corridors.

Vanitas led me to another door, and swung it open.

"In here," he told me. "This is where you'll be staying for now."

I stepped in rather reluctantly while looking around apprehensively. Vanitas turned the doorknob.

"What's your name?" he asked curiously as he started to pull the door shut.

"Xion."


	3. Ventus, Aqua and Xehanort

Authors Note: Okay, here's chapter three. I hope you enjoy it! And thanks so much for beta'ing it Mystics Apprentice :) Please read and review.

Chapter Three: Ventus, Aqua and Xehanort

"All right then, if you think it'll work," spoke Xaldin, "lets head over right now. It's already dark out."

I looked up at the sky. He was right; it really was nighttime. I hadn't noticed somehow. Maybe it was because of some street lamps lining the pavement that we stood on.

Ienzo was now speaking with Even, who had just started paying attention to everyone again.

"Alright, so…we're heading there now?" Even was asking him.

Ienzo nodded and took a step forward. "Yes," he told Even, while turning to face Lea. "Could you and Isa show us where this inn is, please?"

Lea nodded, and stuck his thumbs in his pockets as he started walking away in the direction he had originally come from when he and Isa had gone to explore the town. Then, Ienzo turned to look at me.

"We are going to head over to the inn," he informed me and my two friends. "You may want to come as well."

Riku and Kairi both stood up from where they had been sitting along side me.

"Right, I guess we're coming then," Riku replied, though he didn't look very happy about it.

Riku shot a glance back over at me, and held out a hand to help me up, which I gratefully accepted. I stretched; I had been sitting there for what had felt like ages.

Everyone began to make their way around the side of the building that stood in front of us. Lea and Isa took the lead, both speaking in low voices. Even, Braig and Ienzo went along next, followed by Roxas, Terra and the girl with silvery-blue hair. Marluxia had gotten up by this point, and was following close behind Roxas.

I looked around; Riku and Kairi had started to follow everyone else already, leaving me having to run to catch up with them. Kairi glanced back at me and smiled, slowing up until the three of us were walking side by side. As we were leaving the alleyway I heard a soft swishing sound just behind me. It was Demyx, who had just walked up. There were some small flickers of light by his left hand, as though he had just put a weapon away, probably his sitar.

Our rather sizable group had just left the alleyway as we came upon a much larger open area, which was still surrounded by tall buildings all around. I turned to Riku excitedly.

"Riku! I know where we are!" I exclaimed.

Riku had also been looking around curiously. His expression was thoughtful, until a look of dawning crept across his face.

"Oh I see," Riku said with a nod. "We're in a fourteenth century version of Traverse Town."

I nodded excitedly; at least we were in a world that I had been to before. But, oh boy did it look different! The buildings were all very shabby, and didn't look any better off then the ones we'd seen in the alleyway. They still made me want to duck and cover my head in case they should crumble! The accessory shop was gone, and so was the mailbox. The pavement on the ground also looked more worn-down, as it was chipped in several places and quite dirty. There weren't many people outside like I'd remembered, either. Every time I'd been to the town there had at least been like four or five people outside, though often times more. But now there was only one man, who was sitting in a chair writing something and didn't even look up as we walked past him.

We all followed Lea and Isa up some steps that _should_ have gone past the accessory shop, only now nothing was there—no building of any kind.

Wait, the alleyway we had just been in couldn't have been the same one from before. Hmm...I guess they must have built on it at some point in time.

I was walking along with my friends and examining my surroundings enthusiastically, when Kairi grabbed my hand and pulled me back a few steps.

"Huh? Kairi, what is it?" I asked her, frowning slightly as her and Riku dragged me off towards the others. They stopped a short ways ahead of me and turned around.

"Sora, you ding-a-ling, you just about ran into that man back there!" Riku told me, shaking his head and wearing an expression of alarm.

"What guy?" I asked, as I turned in the direction Riku had nodded towards. There indeed was a man there, and was at least double my size! He definitely didn't look like someone I'd like to cross. After that, I definitely decided to pay closer attention to where I was going.

Kairi let go of my hand, and the three of us rushed to catch up to the others. They weren't very far ahead of us, and were standing outside of a building. Ienzo had just begun to push open a door leading inside as the three of us came up. The steel-haired teen went through, followed closely by the other former members of the Organization. The door had already shut behind them before Terra swung it open again, holding it as he allowed his two friends through first. He then looked back at us, and nodded towards the door.

"Go on and get in," he said with a wide grin. He appeared to be having a fight with the door, since it was seeming to think that it belonged shut.

"Thanks," I told him, offering him a smile in return as we passed through.

"Not a problem," the brunette man replied, gratefully letting the door slam shut behind him.

We stepped inside a small building, which looked to be quite old. Lanterns hung upon the walls in place of lamps, shedding some light on the room we were in, though it still took some time for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

I stood on tiptoe and tried to peer around the line of people that were in front of me. Ienzo was speaking with the owner of the inn (which was the place we were in now), who stood behind a counter.

"We would like—" Ienzo paused and looked around at us in turn, apparently counting heads. He then turned back to the inn owner. "How many rooms do you have available?"

"We have nine left," the man told him, drumming his fingers on the countertop.

Even, Xaldin and Ienzo muttered to one another in low voices, before Ienzo nodded and turned back towards the innkeeper.

"Very well, we would like seven of them," Ienzo told the man.

The man looked overjoyed at this and told Ienzo the pricing, though I couldn't make out what it was from where I stood. Ienzo then turned towards Marluxia and asked him something. In response, Marluxia reached a gloved hand inside his cloak and handed something to him. Even did the same, before Ienzo reached inside his own cloak. I caught sight of what he had; it was munny. He added it to the rest of what was in his hand and passed it to the innkeeper.

The man counted it, and then placed it in a drawer that he locked shut. Ienzo turned, and from what I could see gave Lea a funny look. Lea scratched his head in confusedly, and it took me a moment to figure out why they were acting so strange. It was the munny! Lea had said that the munny here had been different from the kind used in future eras, but Ienzo had handed the man the munny and he'd accepted it with ease!

"All right then, if you'll follow me I'll take you to your rooms," the man told us while unhooking two lanterns from a wall nearby. He led us up a flight of stairs and down a short hallway. It wasn't until we rounded a corner that the man came to a halt.

"Okay here are your rooms," he told Ienzo, handing one of the lanterns to him. "I'll leave you all to sort them out. I'll be downstairs, so feel free to let me know if you need anything." With that, the man turned around and headed down the hall.

Once we had heard a door shut from somewhere downstairs, Ienzo turned sharply towards Lea.

"I thought you had said that their munny here was different from ours," he muttered towards the redhead with a frown.

"Yeah, the munny here did look different from ours," Lea told Ienzo, looking a bit confused himself. "I mean, I saw this old man with some, and _his_ looked different...didn't it, Isa?"

"Yes, it was," Isa assured him, he too seeming a bit perplexed.

"Well, whatever the case," Demyx said with a yawn, speaking up for the first time in a good while, "we got some rooms, so lets hit the sack!"

Ienzo shot a glance over at the enthusiastic blond, while Xaldin nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good to me," he said, placing his hand on a doorknob that was right behind him.

"We have seven rooms; I guess me and Kairi share one?" asked the girl with silvery-blue hair.

"Yes, you two can go on to bed," Ienzo replied with a fond smile.

Kairi maneuvered between Riku and I, and went over to a door with Aqua. She rested a hand upon the door handle before turning back to wave at us.

"Goodnight!" Kairi called over to us. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight Kairi!" I replied, raising a hand to wave.

"Night, Kairi," Riku said.

Even looked at the three us with an annoyed expression, doing that weird thing with his eyes that I hated.

"I want my own room," Even stated flatly, glaring at all of us as if anyone who opposed him would be his next victim upon the examination table.

Ienzo sighed, shaking his head and turning to face Even.

"We only have seven rooms. It has not been determined whom is going to get their own room yet," Ienzo told Even irritably.

"Yeah, and we're not going to be making any exceptions for Mister High Scientist here," Braig told Even, and then chuckled at the expression on Even's face that had followed.

...

I sat up and yawned, wondering why my alarm clock wasn't bleeping at me like it always did. Then I remembered we were in the fourteenth century, and my alarm clock wasn't with me. In fact, they probably hadn't even invented alarm clocks yet!

In the end, we all had decided that whoever got along would be sharing a room. And, despite what Braig had said, we ended up making an exception for Even. Because after all, _n__o one_ had wanted to share a room with the 'mad' scientist.

I glanced at the floor where Riku had been sleeping. He too was just waking up.

"Morning, Sora," Riku mumbled with a yawn.

"Good morning!" I replied cheerfully, as I sprung out of bed and walked around Riku to the door (the bathroom was out in the hallway, you see).

"Hey, Sora?" Riku asked me as I reached for the handle of the door.

"Yeah?" I asked turning around slightly to face him.

"Maybe we should go into town and get you some different clothes. You would look a little funny walking around in your pajamas," Riku told me, examining my clothes carefully.

I looked at my pajamas as well. He _was_ right; I probably should get some different clothes. I _would_ look a little funny walking around in this.

"Okay," I told him. "I'm just going to use the restroom real quick before we go."

"Alright," Riku replied, as he started folding up the blanket that had been over top of him. "You do that."

...

I walked back towards the room Riku and I were sharing, just as Kairi was leaving her room.

"Hi Kairi!" I told her, grinning slightly as I paused in front of our door.

"Good morning, Sora!" Kairi replied, taking a few steps over to join me.

"Hey, would you like to go into town with Riku and me?" I asked.

"Sure!" she replied, sounding rather happy to be going somewhere. "What are we going to go do?"

"Well…besides me getting a new outfit," I told her, as I scratched the back of my head thoughtfully, "I'm not sure what else we'll be doing."

"Okay, well, I'm ready any time," Kairi told me.

"I am, too," I said as I turned the door's handle to get back into my room. "Lets see if Riku is—then we can go."

I opened the door to find Riku sitting right about where I had left him, except now he was looking through his cell phone instead of fighting with the blanket. He looked up when I entered the room.

"Hey Sora, this stupid thing won't work," Riku told me as he stuffed the phone back into the pocket of his jeans. "It's not that surprising though, I mean, considering that we're in the fourteenth century and they hadn't even thought of landlines yet."

Kairi had just appeared in the doorway, shooting a glance over in Riku's direction.

"Hi Riku!" she said, as she walked around us and sat down on my bed.

"Oh, hi Kairi," Riku replied, smiling up at her. "Are you going to come and help Sora pick out some clothes too?"

"Yep!" she said cheerfully.

Riku stood up and stretched, and then bent back down to pick up the blanket he'd folded neatly on the floor. Making his way over to the bed, he threw it haphazardly and it landed next to Kairi in jumbled heap. I wasn't sure on exactly why he even bothered folding it, just to throw it on the bed for it to get all messed up again.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Riku asked us, looking first at Kairi and then at me.

Kairi nodded, and I walked over to my fuzzy slippers that I had left by my bed. I had Mickey Mouse slippers to go with my pajamas, and they matched pretty well.

"Yeah, I'm ready too," I told Riku as I slipped them on my feet.

They weren't as good as shoes, especially since they weren't enclosed, but they _were_ better then nothing.

The three of us left the room, and then made our way back down the hallway. I had just set my foot on the first step when Roxas and the girl with blue hair came up to me.

"Hi!" the girl greeted cheerfully when she was a couple of feet away from us. "Are you guys off to go eat breakfast?"

"Oh, yeah!" I exclaimed, turning towards Riku. "We should go and get something to eat first before we go shopping!"

"I don't know, maybe we should get you some different clothes first…" Kairi muttered, looking thoughtful as she carefully observed my appearance. "And we really _should_ wait for the others to get up before we go eat."

I sighed in defeat. Food sounded pretty good to me right now, 'cause in an odd sort of way, it was almost like I hadn't eaten for an entire twenty-four hours. Except I wasn't quite hungry enough for it to have been that long; I felt more as if I had just skipped dinner. Oh well, I would just hurry and pick out some clothes, and _then_ hopefully we could go and eat!

"Hey, do you three mind if we come along?" Roxas asked, looking between Riku, Kairi and me, as though unsure of who to ask.

Both Riku and Kairi looked at me.

"Umm…" I glanced questioningly at Riku, who shrugged as if to say that it was up to me. "Sure! You can come."

"Hey!" my Nobody said, as his eyes lit up. "You're Sora, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," I told him, frowning slightly. Didn't he know that? I mean, he _was_ my Nobody, after all.

Suddenly—and I mean nobody saw this coming—Roxas grabbed his head and began groaning. The girl put a hand on his shoulder, lookingvery concerned.

"Ven! Are you okay?" she asked him. Her back was turned to us, as she moved so that she stood directly in front of him. Her hands gripped both of his shoulders tightly.

Wait a sec…had she just called him Ven? Why would she do that? His name was Roxas. And why did the name 'Ven' sound so familiar? It was almost as if I had met a person with that same name before…once a long time ago, in an odd place…

I shook my head to try to clear it, though I couldn't quite stop myself from thinking about it. I had been standing on a strange platform, like the one just before I had started all my adventures. And…something had been floating down towards me… A heart?

"Sora!" Kairi was watching me worriedly. "Are you all right?"

"Uh…yeah… Yeah, I'm fine!" I replied, letting go of the railing and lacing my fingers behind my head and giving her one of my best, signature grins.

Both Riku and Kari weren't looking very convinced.

"No really! I'm okay!" I further insisted.

The girl looked over at us, and took a step back from the fair-haired teen. He was no longer holding his head, though he still looked rather pale.

I moved my foot off the top stair, observing the teen more carefully. Was it just my imagination…or did Roxas's hair look different then I remembered it being?

"Hey—" I said, taking a tentative a step towards him. "Are you okay, Roxas?"

Roxas looked up from the floor and over at me. His expression was one of deep confusion.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Roxas told me, and then he cocked his head slightly to the side. "But, my name _isn't_ Roxas. It's Ventus…but, you can call me Ven."

"Ventus…" I muttered quietly. His name sounded _so_ familiar.

I looked up at everyone else to find that they were all watching me now. I grinned again.

"Oh, are we still going into town?" I asked anyone who would listen.

Riku and Kairi exchanged a look, and then Riku nodded slowly.

"Alright then!" I said, still grinning, as I turned back around and descended the flight of stairs.

I headed for the front door of the inn upon reaching the bottom of the stairs. I struggled for a bit at trying to pull the door open, though; Terra hadn't been kidding! This door really didn't want to open! I adjusted my grip so that I was holding the door handle with both of my hands, and then I pulled as hard as I could. The door swung open unexpectedly, sending me crashing to the floor.

"Oww," I muttered to myself, as I rubbed my head where I had hit it against a wall.

"What happened?" Riku asked upon reaching the bottom step.

I scowled at him and crossed my arms, still sitting on the floor. Instead of answering Riku, I turned to the owner of the inn (who had just walked up) and glared at him as well.

"You know, you really need to fix that door of yours!" I informed him, irritably. That had _really_ hurt my head!

...

It was about ten minutes later by the time we had entered a clothing shop. To be honest, I didn't think we'd get there until the next day at the rate we were going!

Riku swung the door open and waved us inside, which was kind of nice considering my luck and front doors these days. Once we'd all stepped inside, he came in and shut the door behind us.

The difference between our clothing shops on Destiny Islands and this one were huge! Actually, this shop didn't look like _any_ shop I had ever been in before.

"Okay, lets see," Kairi murmured as she walked around to the opposite side of the store, which I could see from where I stood. "Here's the men's section."

I wasn't sure if that would work… On Destiny Islands I still wore a junior size.

"This one doesn't look _too_ bad, Sora," Riku said, holding up an outfit for me to see. Though before I could get a proper look at it, Riku had already put it back.

I walked over to a rack, and started picking up outfits at random. I honestly didn't like any of the clothes here, and would've much preferred to go around in my pajamas for as long as it took to find a _proper_ clothing store. One that wasn't so...proper, if you know what I mean.

Riku seemed to be thinking the same thing, since every time he'd pick up an outfit off the rack he'd put it back down pretty fast.

"Hey, guys?" I asked, holding out a ridiculous pair of pants for them to see. "Lets just leave, 'cause I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going to wear any of the clothes here."

Kairi giggled; apparently I wasn't the only one that thought that they looked silly.

"Maybe everyone else is up now. And…we can get something to eat?" I suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, lets go and see," Riku agreed, heading for the door.

We all filed out, leaving a very upset looking owner of that store behind.

We were walking back down the completely barren street on our way back to the inn, until I heard Kairi let out a gasp from a little ways behind me. I turned around quickly to see what was wrong, and I too, couldn't help but gasp.

"Kairi!" I yelled as I made my Keyblade, the Oblivion,appear. An old man had a hold of Kairi's upper arm and was restraining her from coming over to us.

"Let her go!" I yelled pointing my Keyblade at him.

Riku had just run up beside me, he was also holding his Keyblade. Ventus and the girl came rushing back over to us as well.

"Its alright!" the girl told us reassuringly. "Its my Master's friend, Master Xehanort!"

"Yes, Aqua, very good!" the man told her, his gold eyes glinting. "There is nothing to fear."

Master Xehanort… Could this be Xemnas? Before he became a Nobody? I wasn't sure why the girl thought that he was okay. I mean, _maybe_ he was? But something told me that I shouldn't trust him. Maybe that was because of the mad glint in his eyes that I had only seen two other people with: one was Xemnas, and the other was Ansem, the seeker of darkness.

"Let Kairi go…_now_," I muttered through gritted teeth.

Master Xehanort simply looked at me, wearing the same twisted smile that he'd always wear. And, instead of giving Kairi back, he opened one of those strange portals that I had been thrown into the day before and took a step back towards it.

That was it; he _had_ to be up to trouble, and I wasn't just going to stand around and let him take Kairi!

I charged at him with my Keyblade. He was only about ten feet away from where I stood. Then I was three feet away; just a couple more steps and I could reach Kairi.

Then before I knew what was happening, I found myself lying facedown on the hard stone floor. I had been hit by what felt like a brick wall, though it couldn't have been such. I was a bit dizzy, but I still forced myself into a sitting position.

I wasn't the only one who had been hit by that strange force, though. Riku was on his hands and knees beside me, apparently having had the same idea that this 'Xehanort' person was up to no good, and decided to charge him as well.

"Well, I'm afraid that I can't give her to you…yet. You see…" the man broke off dramatically as he backed into the portal. "...I need you and Riku to come and find her. If you can do that, _then_ you can have her back."

I pushed myself into a standing position, but it was too late—the portal had already started to disappear. Riku got up from alongside me and ran towards the portal, but it was already almost completely gone. Once he had reached it, there wasn't even the slightest trace that it had ever been there. My silver-haired friend threw his Keyblade into the ground, with such force that it actually sunk in a short ways. He then rounded on the girl with blue hair (Aqua) and glared at her, his fists tightly clenched.

"Why did you tell us that there was nothing to worry about?" Riku demanded, his turquoise eyes glinting with anger. "If you hadn't…then we could have reached her in time."

It had been awhile since I had seen him this upset; I had always found it difficult to make him upset, usually.

Aqua's gaze turned onto him, clearly a bit shocked by what had happened as well. I knew right away by the look on her face that she had no idea he was going to take Kairi. I think Riku knew that too, only he was too upset to admit it.

"I—I'm sorry. I had no idea that he was going to take your friend," Aqua told him, looking between Riku and me. "I mean, my Master...he trusts him, and I can't see why he'd take Kairi like that."

Riku glared at her for a moment longer, and then dropped his gaze to the ground, his fists still tightly clenched.

I reluctantly made my Keyblade vanish. Xehanort was gone now, and there was no reason to leave it out.

"Hey, don't worry," Ventus told me, sympathy filling his bright-blue eyes. "We'll find her, and, Terra, Aqua and me will help you!"

I considered him thoughtfully for a moment. He was right: Xehanort _had_ taken Kairi…but I was going to find and get her back, no matter what!


	4. Unsure Decision

Authors Note: Well, here's chapter four. I hope that this chapter is okay. Please read and review :) And thanks for beta'ing it Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Four: Unsure Decision

I sat up and looked around. Something had startled me into wakefulness, and I was trying to figure out what it had been. It had made an odd sort of clanging sound; a sound similar to one banging something made of metal shut.

I squinted into the pitch-black cell to my left, only to find no one there. Then I heard the sound again, only this time it was coming from the cell to my right. After a few minutes of trying to discern what was in there, the door to the right cell slammed shut. I heard footsteps moving away from it, though I knew it couldn't be Vanitas. This person was too tall, and was walking rather hunched over. The figure's footfalls slowly died away, until I heard a door shut from above and I could no longer make them out entirely.

I got up quietly and peered through the bars separating the right cell from mine. I grasped one of the bars while desperately trying to make out what was within the shadows of the cell. I let out a sigh in defeat; I couldn't make out anything in there—it was far too dark.

"Hello?" I called quietly. "Is…someone in there?"

I remained standing there silently for a few minutes, but no answer ever came. Maybe there _wasn't_ anyone in there, only I could've sworn I had seen the man leave someone in there. Maybe they were unconscious? Or, maybe I was just hopeful.

Vanitas had brought me to the cell only the day before. I hadn't seen anyone else since then _apart_ from Vanitas_, _who had brought me food three times since my arrival. Vanitas really hadn't said much during any of those times, and he _really_ didn't seem to enjoy answering any of my questions. Though the last time he'd come I had gotten him to tell me his leader's name, who was a man named Xehanort.

I sat back down on the floor of my cell and leaned my back against the wall. The floor here really wasn't that clean, but I hardly cared anymore.

Vanitas had said something about me meeting this leader of his. I wondered what he wanted with me? I mean, I could use the Keyblade, but so could Vanitas. Would he really have any use for me? I was determined not to help anyone who was after the power of Kingdom Hearts, _if_ Sora hadn't already destroyed it. I wasn't even sure if it was possible _to_ destroy Kingdom Hearts, for that matter.

Just then I heard something moving in the cell beside mine. I leaned forward and peered once again into the other cell; there was definitely someone in there.

"Hey, is someone in there?" I asked, beginning to stand up once again.

I heard someone, who sounded like a girl, groan from inside the cell.

"Wh—where am I?" the prisoner asked, sounding slightly scared. "Sora? Riku?"

"You know Sora?" I asked her, my eyes widening in surprise.

Who was she? Could she be Naminé?

"What's your name?" I further inquired, as I walked over to the bars separating us.

"Huh? Who's there?" she asked, sounding startled as she too rose to her feet.

"My name is Xion…" I told her, as I then repeated the question I had asked her before. "What's your name?"

I heard the girl make her way across her cell towards the bars separating us. Once she had gotten close enough I could begin make her out a bit better, as she had to cross through a patch of moonlight to approach me. She looked just like me! The only difference that set us apart was the length of her hair, which fell just past her shoulders. I couldn't tell what color it was, except that it wasn't blond. My guess would've been some shade of brown or red, because it looked a little lighter then mine. But apart from that we looked to be the same height and weight. She wasn't Naminé…but I was pretty sure that I knew who she was!

"I'm Kairi… It's nice to meet you, Xion," she told me, her voice softening as she spoke. "Do you know where we are?"

"Well…no. I'm not exactly sure," I told her. That had been the same exact question that I had been asking Vanitas every time he'd come. I hadn't gotten Vanitas to tell me yet, and the last time I had asked he'd gotten pretty mad and had told me not to ask him again. "Have you ever heard of a man named Xehanort?"

"Yes, I have. He was the one who brought me here." I could see a look of concern wash over her face as she answered me. "His Nobody has caused a lot of problems in—well, where I came from."

I looked at her a moment. This was Kairi…one of Sora's best friends in the worlds, along with Riku. I had heard a lot about her; Naminé had said the two of us were almost like the same person. It was very strange, but I remembered her…from Sora's memories…still.

"We're in Xehanort's prison cells, that's all I _do_ know," I told her. "And since it doesn't sound like this Xehanort person is very nice…that's probably not a good thing."

I glanced up at a small barred window above Kairi; it was the only window that I knew of, or within sight, at least. Gauging from the moonbeams shining down upon Kairi, I was guessing that it was early evening. I sighed, my gaze dropping towards the stone flooring of the cell. When was Vanitas going to take me to see his master? Maybe sometime soon, but because his master had only just returned, he probably didn't want to see anyone for a little while.

"You asked me if I knew Sora … have _you_ met him before?" Kairi asked me, a note of curiosity in her tone.

I looked at her again. That would be hard to explain, because I didn't _really_ know Sora. I was just a puppet…with his memories.

"Well…no, not really," I told her as I shook my head, causing some of my bangs to fall into my face. "I _do_ know Riku, though—he told me about Sora."

"So, you must be from our time period!" Kairi exclaimed joyfully. "We can probably figure a way out of here together!"

"I don't think so. I've been trying to find a way out…and there doesn't seem to be any," I replied somberly. I had been trying to find an escape route ever since I came here, and there really didn't seem to be one. Even my Keyblade hadn't worked; there seemed to be some barrier against it.

"Well, we could try my Keyblade," Kairi told me.

"No, it won't work," I informed her. "They've made it so that Keyblades don't work against these locks."

"Oh," she said, looking slightly crestfallen.

I walked around my cell, entirely lost in thought. I really wasn't sure what to make of everything. It was strange talking to Kairi… It was almost like talking to myself.

Suddenly I heard a door slam shut, the same one that I had come from. Someone was descending the stairs from above us.

I paused in my pacing and looked over in the direction that I knew the person would be coming from. Then I glanced at Kairi, who was also looking in the same direction. Once the newcomer had turned the corner, they continued to make their way towards our cells.

"You are to come with me," a voice I recognized as Vanitas's said to me. "I'll take you to a different room where you'll be more comfortable."

I watched as Vanitas swung my cell door open, beckoning me through. I obeyed willingly, wondering if he was going to take Kairi out as well. However, Vanitas didn't turn her way at all. He just started back the way he came, only glancing back once to see if I was following him. I glanced over my shoulder at Kairi.

"Aren't you going to take her as well?" I asked Vanitas, as I paused on the first step.

"My orders were only to take _you_ to a different room," Vanitas informed me, in the same irritated manner that he always used when I asked him a question. "So…that is exactly what I'm doing."

I nodded silently, unsure if he could even see me in the utter darkness or not. I doubted that there was a whole lot I could do for her with Vanitas standing right there, so I reluctantly turned back around and followed him up the stairs. It was very dark down in the dungeons, even in the daylight hours. But then again, outside of the single barred-window it was always dark and misty as well, regardless of whether it was day or night. I found it a little odd that Vanitas never used a lantern. Hmm, maybe he just liked the dark?

Vanitas paused at the top of the stairs and pushed the door open. We then proceeded to walk in silence up the corridor. Vanitas seemed to be quite certain that I would follow him, as he didn't glance back at me again. But then again, why would I not follow him? My only other option would be to turn around and go back down into the dungeons, and the only good that could do would be to make Vanitas very angry; which I didn't really want to do.

We finally left the corridor behind, and we went through an area I hadn't seen on my first trip into the castle. This building was darker and more plain even then The Castle that Never Was, and that _was_ saying something. We rounded a corner and started up some stairs of a polished, dark-brown wood. It was _very_ shiny, and squeaked every time I took a step.

When we reached the top, Vanitas walked a little further before pulling a set of double doors open, where he waited for me to pass through. We had now stepped into a very large corridor that had many doors left and right. Vanitas rounded another corner and there was another flight of polished stairs for us to ascend. He then turned right through another set of double doors that already stood open.

We continued on a short ways down the hall, until Vanitas pulled another door open, and for third time waved me through it. I went in and Vanitas followed me.

We arrived in what appeared to be a very nicely furnished bedroom that was quite large. There was one other door besides the one we had just come through; my guess was that it led to the bathroom. Vanitas had halted only a couple of steps within the room and watched me.

"This is where you will be staying," he informed me, as he turned around to leave the room. "My master said that he's going to speak with you sometime tomorrow."

"Okay," I replied, still looking around the room. It was far nicer then the one I had been given inside The Castle that Never Was! There was even a bookcase containing many books of varying sizes and colors.

Vanitas turned my door's handle and stepped out of my room. He started to close it and then paused, once again opening the door wide.

"Heh… I almost forgot: my master wanted me to say sorry for putting you inside a dungeon cell," he told me, chuckling to himself. "He also said that you are welcome to go wherever you like… Inside this building, that is."

Gauging from the look on his face, Vanitas definitely didn't look sorry at all. He turned around and left my room, letting the door bang shut behind him.

I sighed and walked around to the bed and sat down. What could they want with me? Or Kairi? I laid back against the pillows of the bed, falling deeply in thought. Where were Roxas and Axel right now? Were they even alive?

I lay there for quite some time debating where they could be, until I finally fell asleep.

...

I walked swiftly down the corridor, lanterns on the walls shed soft light on the long hallway in front of me. Not that it mattered to me, I could see extraordinarily well in the dark. That probably could have something to do with the fact that I was a being of complete darkness…

I continued down the dark corridor until I reached a large wooden door leading down into the dungeons. I opened it with ease and continued my way down the dark stone steps that would end upon reaching the dungeons. It seemed like I had been down there quite a bit lately. Considering we had no maids here, _I_ had been tasked with the job of feeding our prisoner, though I actually hadn't been supposed to put her down there in the prisons to begin with. My master had been very angry when he came back, saying that I was to treat her like a guest, or else she might not help us with whatever it was that we needed her help with.

The girl reminded me a lot of one other Keyblade wielder; she had blue hair and was one of Ventus's 'little friends.' How was it that the stupid kid could make friends with just about anyone he happened to meet? I shook my head irritably. I wasn't sure why I had always wondered about this—well… I guess it was because I didn't have any friends of my own. Not that I really needed any, but I had always wondered what it was like—having friends.

Upon reaching the bottom step I turned right. I had just finished dropping Xion (aka our prisoner) off in her new, much nicer room. I was now on my way to see my master, who had gone to speak with another prisoner he'd brought shortly after I had brought Xion. Apparently, this new prisoner was a young woman as well, though I didn't know her name as of yet.

I put my helmet back on as I drew nearer to my master; he had told me to make sure I wore it around this particular prisoner. My master was quite easy to spot in the dark prison, considering he held a candle high as he spoke with the girl from outside of her cell. I reached his side and stood there, waiting for him to finish.

"Ah, Vanitas," my master said, wearing a smile while turning to face me. "This is Kairi, a good friend of Sora's."

I looked at her from outside the cell in surprise. For a couple of seconds I had been sure that she was Xion! Then I noticed that her hair was the color auburn, whereas Xion's hair was black.

"Sora's friend, eh?"

"Um…yes, I am," Kairi answered, looking at me curiously.

I had nothing personal against Sora. In fact, if it hadn't been for him, my face may very well be resembling something like a heartless's, which wouldn't be cool at all.

"Well, Kairi, it was nice speaking with you," my master told her with a false smile as he took a step backward. "I think that I'll be off now. And don't worry, I doubt you'll be staying here for very long. I'm sure Sora will probably be looking all over for you."

With that, he turned around and started moving towards the way I just came. We started up the stairs when my master spoke.

"Everything is going exactly according to plan," he said with his normal, twisted smile. "Now all we need is Sora and Riku."

I stared silently at my feet for a moment. My master was very happy about something…

"Master Xehanort?" I started questioningly. "What exactly are you planning to do with all of us?"

My master swung open the door that led to the castle above. He then waited until the door to the dungeons had shut safely behind me before answering.

"You will find out along with the others… But there is also one other thing you and Xion will need to do for me before we can proceed with my other plan," Master Xehanort told me. "Something that will both earn her trust and make obtaining Kingdom Hearts one step easier."

I watched him irritably; he never would tell me his complete plan until it was halfway through the making.

"Why is it that Kairi looks like Xion?" I asked him, abruptly changing the subject.

"Xion was apart of an interesting project," Master Xehanort told me, as we walked slowly down the stairs. "A project led by a Nobody titled Vexen. His project was to make replicas of a couple certain 'Keyblade wielders': Sora and Riku, of course."

My master was silent for several seconds before continuing. I watched him, a bit curious now.

"Vexen succeeded in making two replicas. One was quite a disappointment, and did not make it into their ranks. Whereas the other one, the replica of Sora, was a bit better and was brought to The Castle that Never Was. Xion is Sora's replica, though she is still imperfect." My master paused and continued to move down the stairs at a crawling pace. "Xion was never quite meant to become her own person, and she wouldn't have if some of Sora's memories hadn't found their way inside her...yet she did. Several of Sora's most treasured memories found there way inside her, giving her an identity of her own; she is hardly anything like Sora anymore."

"But…why does she look like Kairi?" I further pressed. Master Xehanort had given me her history, not the answer I was seeking.

"She doesn't look like Kairi to everyone," he told me slowly. "She appears differently to different people. Like for instance, when I look at her I generally think she resembles what she is: a puppet."

I considered this for a moment. It didn't make a whole lot of since, but I decided not to question him further. To do so wouldn't normally be a good idea, and I think that I basically had the answer to my question.

"You will bring Xion to see me tomorrow… As soon as she finishes her breakfast."

"Fine," I answered quietly, as my master opened the door to the inside of the castle and we both went our separate ways to our rooms.

...

I was fighting one of those invisible Stealth Sneaks as it attempted to keep me from finding its exact location. As it prepared to send two bolts of energy my way, I found where it was and lunged. But since it had been invisible I hadn't expected it to swing its tail around to hit me as well. It was now visible, but the creature's tail was now too close for me to avoid it. It was going to hit me at any second…

"Xion?"

I sat bolt upright and looked around, half expecting to see the gigantic lizard-like heartless still swinging its tail at me. Realizing that it had been a dream, I looked around to see who had called my name. It was Vanitas. He was watching me, and for a spilt second I thought that I saw a look of concern flash across his face. In an instant it was gone and replaced by his usual irritable expression. Maybe I had just imagined it.

"Here," Vanitas told me, as he held out a tray of food. "Bad dream, I guess?"

I accepted the food, and after taking a bite I nodded ever so slightly. I wasn't about to tell Vanitas my dream; that would be very silly. I remembered the day that I had faced one of those; it was on a mission back when I was still with Organization XIII. I hadn't been able to find the Heartless I'd been sent to defeat and therefore hadn't RTC'ed yet, which resulted in Roxas and Axel coming to find me.

I looked over at Vanitas, who had just picked up another tray of food and sat down on the foot of my bed.

"Oh yeah, my master said that he will see you as soon as you're finished eating," Vanitas informed me. His fork paused in midair, as if he had only just remembered to tell me this.

"Okay," I answered. I wasn't sure how much I wanted to meet this 'master' of his anymore. He didn't sound very nice, and if he really was Xemnas's Somebody, then I really didn't want to help him with anything.

We sat in silence for quite some time, before I asked him a question that I figured he probably wouldn't answer anyway.

"Vanitas?" I began, looking up from my plate of scrambled eggs. "What does your master want with me?"

Vanitas took a bite of his own eggs and chewed slowly before answering.

"He'll tell you himself when he speaks with you in a minute," Vanitas told me. "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure _what_ he wants with you."

I considered this for a moment; I knew that I probably wasn't going to get a better answer. Honestly, I was a bit surprised that I had gotten an answer at all; only I wasn't sure if I believed him that he was truly oblivious to what his master was up to.

I took a small bite of my biscuit; it was really good!

"So," Vanitas started, looking back at me curiously. "I've heard that you have some of Sora's memories… Is this true?"

I nodded, not sure how much I really wanted to answer him. How had he found out about this? Not very many people knew…unless he was working with Xemnas, or his master really was Xemnas's Somebody.

We both sat silently for a while, until Vanitas finished his food and stood up. He looked over at my nearly empty tray, which I was no longer eating from anymore.

"Are you finished yet?" Vanitas asked holding out a hand for my tray.

I nodded, passing it to him. I was now once again wondering what it was that his master wanted from me. I stood up and followed Vanitas to the door. He went through it, leaving the door wide open for me to pass, and once again I was following the dark-clad figure down a hall.

Ten-minutes later we entered a rather large room, with extraordinarily nice furnishings and silk curtains. I glanced back at Vanitas, who gestured that I should enter the room. I walked in slowly, noticing an old man hunched over in a rather immaculate armchair.

"Ah! Xion, Vanitas! Come in and have a seat," the old man greeted, beaming radiantly at the two of us.

I was guessing this man had to be Xehanort. He really did look quite old, though he spoke as if he were a much younger person.

The man waited for both me and Vanitas to take seats. The dark-haired boy sat beside the man in what was probably the most uncomfortable chair in the entire room, though it was quite lovely in appearance. I took one of the chairs that sat across from the two of them. The man turned to me, still grinning broadly.

"I am very glad to finally be meeting you," Xehanort told me. "My name is Xehanort. I am also a wielder of the Keyblade, titled a 'Master' some many years ago. Your name is Xion, correct?"

I watched him cautiously for a moment before responding unsurely.

"Yes," I replied, and further added as an afterthought. "It's very nice to meet you, too."

"You can wield the Keyblade, correct?" Xehanort pressed. "The Kingdom Key?"

I nodded reluctantly. He had already referred to me as a 'fellow Keyblade Wielder,' so I assumed that he already knew this, which meant there was no reason to lie.

"Well then, Xion, I was wondering if I could ask for your help with something…" Xehanort trailed off.

I looked up upon the old man's words; I had expected something like that.

"As I am sure you know, the man you had previously worked for was my Nobody: Xemnas. However, I am not exactly like him… He had lost his memory quite unfortunately, and no longer remembered my true objectives. He believed that he wanted the power of Kingdom Hearts…which is not what I am after." Xehanort paused, standing up and walking over to one of the many windows in the room. "Xemnas still believes this, and is still after that great power that should be left alone. I have been trying very hard to stop him, and the others that follow him whom are also after this power. I have only had one other idea…"

Could he be telling the truth? Though I knew better then to just trust someone like that. There was one thing that almost made me believe him. For one, he _did_ look genuinely upset about what Xemnas was up to, and another thing was that Xemnas had always told us that our goal was Kingdom Hearts—though he had never told us what he wanted with it.

"_My_ master, I believe, knew of a secret that could lock Kingdom Hearts forever. He told me, my fellow pupil and good friend, Eraqus, that there was a book in which had been locked away by a Keyblade Master a very long time ago. It was to be used if someone who would abuse its power was ever close to breaking into Kingdom Hearts." Xehanort paused again, turning around to look at me. "The only problem is that I have no idea where it is now, as the world that it was in is now gone—forever. Now, as for the favor that I was going to ask you…is if you _and_ Vanitas would be willing to go and find this precious book for me?"

I looked at him for a long time, not really sure if I wanted to get involved.

"Is there a reason that I need to help with this, Master Xehanort?" I asked curiously. I was wondering why he couldn't just have Vanitas do it.

"Well…yes, there is. I think there may be a need for two Keyblades along the way," Xehanort told me. "Could you help me with this, Xion? You see, I can't get Sora to. I am afraid that is why I took his dear friend; it was in hopes of prompting Sora to help, though I don't think neither Sora or Riku will be able to come in time to stop Xemnas from getting Kingdom Hearts. I have many things that require my attention here, so I cannot go."

"I—I don't know…" I said, lowering my gaze to the ground. He sounded like he was telling the truth, but I couldn't be sure. I certainly didn't want to help someone like Xemnas again.

"I understand your hesitancy; I know you have had past dealings with my Nobody. But I am not quite the same as him," Xehanort assured me. "So…will you help me?"

I continued to study the ground for a moment longer before I finally made up my mind.

"Okay, I'll help," I replied, somewhat reluctantly. "You really aren't after Kingdom Hearts?"

"I do not seek its power, no," Xehanort assured me once again. "And I must thank you very much for helping me with this. I am sure Sora would help as well...if he only understood."

I nodded, just as Vanitas stood up.

"Alright then, since that's settled," Vanitas said as he walked over to the door. "I'll just take you back to your room."

We headed towards the door again; Vanitas opened it and stepped out.

"Oh, Xion?" Xehanort called out just as I was about to go through the door. "I was thinking that you and Vanitas should head out tomorrow."

"Okay," I replied, and I slid the door shut behind me.


	5. Through the Time Portal

Authors Note: I intend to have every other chapter from Xion's point of view, unless I add someone else's along the way, such as Vanitas's. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Please read and Review :)

Thanks so much for your help Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Five: Through the Time Portal

"Did you say that _Xehanort _has taken her?" Ienzo asked me once I had finished explaining what had happened (with some help from Riku and Ven. Aqua had remained oddly silent while we were speaking). "You _are_ sure that it was not Xemnas?"

"_Yes_! I'm completely sure!" I told him, nodding frantically. "He was a really old man!"

I was getting a little exasperated with Ienzo now; he had remained looking doubtful the entire time that we'd been explaining all this to him.

I crossed my arms and waited for Ienzo to respond, who was staring at the floor as if he could see straight through it. Then I noticed that Riku had taken a step forward so that he was now standing right beside me.

"Listen," Riku started, glaring at Ienzo through narrowed eyes. "I don't know what you're thinking or planning right now…but, that _was_ Xehanort back there. Mickey showed me a photo of him before."

"Do you believe us _now_?" I asked Ienzo irritably. "_We have to go and find her__—__right away_!"

Ienzo finally looked up and nodded in agreement.

"What?"

I glanced back over my shoulder to find Even, who was tromping up the stairs towards where we were gathered at Ienzo's doorway. On our way back, we had caught up with him just as he had been entering his room, having only had breakfast.

"Who do we have to find?" Even demanded.

I glared at the scientist; he just had this way of getting on my very last nerve!

"Kairi," Riku told him when I had failed to respond immediately. "A man named Xehanort has taken Kairi."

Even was now standing right beside me, his arms crossed in a similar fashion to mine.

"Who is this 'Xehanort?'" he asked us, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "And what would anyone want with Kairi?"

I sighed. "Xehanort said that he wanted me and Riku to find her, but I don't know why… Unless he wants to get me and Riku to do something for him."

"Interesting… But who is he?" Even repeated.

"I do not believe that you would know whom he is as of yet," Ienzo told him. "Xehanort is a Keyblade Master, whom is seeking the power of Kingdom Hearts to bring the worlds as we know them into utter ruin. _Xehanort_ believes that in doing so he will be bringing the worlds back together as one."

"Then we definitely can't help him," I thought aloud, a frown creasing my forehead. "But we do have to find Kairi—as soon as we can!"

"We need to come up with the best solution possible," Ienzo told me. "Then I do believe that we should go and find her, yes."

Riku shifted restlessly beside me.

"How long do you think that'll take?" Riku asked Ienzo. "I _will not _let that old man hurt Kairi!"

"It should not take very long," Ienzo assured him. "First we need to conclude a way to open one of the time portals, otherwise we will not be capable of getting anywhere."

"Well then, I'm going to leave you all to figure it out," Even informed us while heading down the hall towards his room.

"Wait," Ienzo called after him. "I will need your help figuring out how to reopen the portal."

Ienzo turned to look at Riku and me.

"Could you show me the exact location that Xehanort departed from?"

I blinked and thought back to where we had been. I was pretty sure that I remembered about where it was. Before I could answer, Ventus nodded.

"Yeah," he told Ienzo. "I'm pretty sure that we can find it again."

"Very well, then. Lead the way," Ienzo told him. He and Ventus began to make their way towards the stairs.

"Sora? Riku? Do either of you want to come?" Ventus asked us, his hand resting on the stairs' railing. "Aqua?"

"Yeah, I'll come," Riku replied, joined him and Ienzo by the stairs.

I nodded and headed over there as well. Once I had reached them I glanced back at Aqua, who hadn't made a motion to join whatsoever.

"No, I'll just—" Aqua paused, her bright-blue eyes worried. "I'm just going to go tell Terra what happened."

She then turned around and headed down the hallway.

"Okay, good idea!" Ventus called after her.

…

We arrived at the spot a short while later. Riku, Ventus and I were pacing around trying to pinpoint exactly where it had been that Xehanort vanished. On our ninth round, Riku paused in a certain spot a ways away from me, and glanced back at Ienzo.

"It was right here," Riku informed him. "I remember because Xehanort had been just slightly to the right of that postal box."

I frowned at the spot that Riku was standing as I followed Ienzo and Even over there. I wasn't sure how Riku had noticed that; I hadn't even realized that there _was_ a mailbox over there!

"All right," Ienzo said, bending down to place the palm of his hand on the hard surface. "You three should go and get something to eat. Even and I will try to discern how to open the portal."

Even scowled as he crouched down beside the steel-haired teen.

"I never agreed to help you with this," I heard him tell Ienzo irritably. "It isn't polite to order people around that are older than yourself—"

"Do you or do you not wish to open this portal and explore other eras?" Ienzo interjected.

"Well…of course I do," Even told him. "I just don't like being bossed around by people who are younger then myself."

"I was quite certain that you would wish to help," Ienzo told him, as he flicked his wrist and a regular portal appeared directly before him. "If you do not want to, then _please_ do what you like."

Even seemed to think better of arguing and instead glared at the rapidly disappearing portal.

"Hey, Sora!"

I quickly turned around. Riku and Ventus were standing at the corner of the street waiting for me. I glanced back over my shoulder to where Even was still crouching down, and Ienzo was now pacing in circles around the spot.

"I'll see you later guys!" I told them. I offered them a wave before turning around to run and catch up with Riku and Ven.

…

Riku, Ventus, Terra, Aqua and I were sitting around a round, medium-sized table in a corner of a packed restaurant. Apparently this was where all the people in town were; all crammed in this one teeny, tiny restaurant.

The three of us had decided to go back to the inn and pick up Terra and Aqua. And, so far, our only topic choice for discussion had been 'Xehanort.' I guess the old man had been their master's best friend or something, and they were all shocked that he could actually _want_ Kingdom Hearts' power. Terra had gone as far as to insist up and down that we _had _to be mistaken. Though I think that Aqua and Ven had finally managed to convince him that there was at least a possibility he was up to no good.

I looked up in surprise as someone at our table started gagging and coughing.

"Careful Ven," Terra told him teasingly as he whacked him on the back.

"Ugh," Ventus muttered, eyes streaming as he examined his coffee in disgust. "What did they put in this? It tastes—_awful_!"

Terra chuckled and ate a bite of his pancakes (they had been out of waffles, which he had tried to order first). I found it a little funny that all five of us had ordered pancakes. Well…maybe not, I mean who _wouldn't_ like pancakes? They were Kairi's favorite as well…

Terra had also ordered coffee, though I noticed that he carefully avoided it after what Ventus had said.

"So," Terra started, turning to face me. "I hear that you and Riku can both wield the Keyblade… Is that true?"

I nodded with a huge grin, causing Terra to beam at me.

"Cool! Ventus, Aqua and me can as well," Terra told me. "And Aqua here had just became a Keyblade _master_ before we got zapped off here."

I looked at Aqua in surprise; I hadn't guessed that any of them were able to use the Keyblade, but a _Keyblade Master_, wow!

"That's so cool!" I told them, grinning from ear-to-ear. "How exactly do you become a Keyblade Master though? Is there some kind of test that you have to pass?"

"Not always," Aqua replied. "Normally your master will just deem you one when he thinks you're ready. Though our master decided to do a test for us."

"Then did you take the test too, Terra?" I asked curiously. Gauging by the look on their faces I was guessing that I shouldn't have asked.

"Yeah—I did," Terra informed me, avoiding the gaze of everyone at the table and stirring the coffee that I was pretty sure he wouldn't drink. "I'm just—eh, not good enough to pass yet."

After that we all sat in silence, until Terra took a sip of his coffee. He made an extremely odd noise in his throat and then quickly excused himself from the table.

"I warned you!" Ventus called after him, laughing before turning to look at Riku then at me. "What's the name of your guy's master?"

"We don't have a master," Riku told him, catching my eye; he looked slightly worried, though I couldn't imagine why. "We kind of just taught ourselves."

"Really?" Ventus asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "You don't have a master?"

I shook my head and took another bite out of my pancakes.

"What's the name of your master?" Riku asked. "Do the three of you all have the same one?"

"Yeah, his name is Master Eraqus," Ventus told us. "He's really great."

We all sat and ate the rest of our food in silence. Just as we finished paying our waiter, Terra finally came back and joined us again.

"Okay, we all set to go then?" Terra asked us while we all rose from the table.

"Yep!" Ventus told him, before handing him a box. "Here, we put the rest of your food in a to-go box."

…

Riku and I were back in our room at the inn. My silver-haired friend was leaning against the wall by the closet door, and was once again looking at his phone. Gauging by the look he wore on his face and his continuous sighing, I was guessing that it still wasn't working very well.

We were waiting for any news from Ienzo, who promised to tell us right away if he figured anything out about the time portal, but I wasn't expecting to hear anything right away. When we had stopped off on our way back from the restaurant to see how it was going, they hadn't seemed to have made any progress whatsoever. Even was quickly growing tired of working on it; when we had last seen him he had been sitting on the edge of the paved sidewalk, driving Ienzo _so_ crazy that he had been practically _begging _the scientist to leave. Ienzo had made it sound like just a polite suggestion, but even after stating this, Even had still decided to stay. He'd been saying that Ienzo wouldn't be able to figure anything out without his help. So we all had left a very exasperated-looking Ienzo to figure out how to open the time portal, with the help of the mad scientist. I had felt a little bad about leaving Ienzo there with him, but I doubted that I would be of any help anyway. I had absolutely _no_ patience for Even.

I glanced over at Riku as he let out a particularly loud sigh. He was still looking at his phone, though at the moment he really looked as though he would like to just throw it—but he didn't. My guess would be that he realized he _would_ probably regret it after he did so, and had decided against it.

I sighed as well, before reaching down and pulling one of my Mickey Mouse slippers off my foot. I laid back down, my head hanging slightly off the side of my bed, and started tossing my Mickey Mouse slipper up in the air and catching it before it hit the bed. I was getting pretty tired of waiting here and doing nothing to rescue Kairi.

"Sora?" Riku asked as he walked over to me (I was still tossing my slipper around). "What are you doing?"

I glanced up at him. Couldn't he tell without asking? I was playing catch with my slipper!

"Nothing," I told him. "I'm just waiting for news on the portal, same as you. Any luck with your phone?"

Riku shook his head, plopping down on the bed by my feet. He was now staring at the door, as though willing Ienzo to come through it.

Just then I heard a knock at the door, and Isa's voice calling through it.

"It's Lea and me, can we come in?"

"Sure," I answered, resuming the throwing of my slipper.

They both came in, leaving the door ajar behind them.

"I heard about your friend," Lea told us, sitting on the floor by the bed. "I'm really sorry that the old coot took her."

I laughed; that sounded pretty funny, but it _did_ fit him well enough.

"Thanks; I'm sure that we'll be able to find her soon," I told him. I then changed the subject and asked, "So…do you know anything about Organization XIII?"

Lea frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

"No, I can't say that I do," he told me. "What is it? Is that where you think the old man took Kairi?"

"I heard Ienzo and Marluxia discussing that organization yesterday. They mentioned something called a 'Nobody,' which didn't make any since to me. It had sounded as if they were in this Organization…" Isa told me. "Which wouldn't be a good thing, right?"

I looked at Isa. I was a little surprised that he had caught all of that; he must have been listening very closely to what they were saying.

"What's a Nobody?" Lea asked curiously.

"Oh, umm… A Nobody is—" I fell silent, glancing at Riku for help. I wasn't sure how much I should tell them. I mean, if they ever found out that they became Nobodies themselves when they were older…

I glanced back at Isa; he wore a look of curiosity on his face. Riku was watching them as well, apparently wondering the same thing that I was.

"Well," Riku started, looking back and forth between the two friends. "Nobodies are beings of neither light nor darkness. They have no hearts, meaning they don't feel any emotions. They all want something called Kingdom Hearts because they…think that it'll give them back the piece of themselves that they lost."

Lea was looking at the ground thoughtfully, but my eyes widened when I saw the expression on Isa's face. He looked horrified! But why? Unless… He somehow already knew that he was going to become one?

"Huh, that's strange," Lea said, frowning slightly. "I guess I feel a little sorry for them though. I mean, who would like not being able to feel happy or excited?"

Lea didn't seem to be that bothered by Riku's explanation on what Nobodies were. I glanced back at Isa again; his expression had cleared, though he still looked rather pale.

"Hey, it's time for lunch!" Lea exclaimed, tapping the watch he wore around his wrist. "You guys want to come with Isa and me to get some chow?"

"Nah," Riku told him, once again pulling out his phone from his back pocket. "We had sort of a brunch not too long ago, I'm not hungry yet. Are you, Sora?"

I shook my head; I was still pretty full from breakfast.

"Thanks though," I told them. I slipped my Mickey Mouse slipper back on my foot for good, deciding that I was finally bored of my toss and catch game.

"Oh, and by the way, Sora… You _might _want to get some different clothes. I don't think anyone here knows who Mickey Mouse is," Lea told me.

"I'm _not_ going to get different clothes until I find something somewhat decent to wear!" I informed him, crossing my arms and scowling. "Wait—you know Mickey?"

"Eh, no," Lea told me while scratching the back of his head. "This umm, 'duck'—well, his name's Scrooge McDuck. Anyway, he told us that he had met Mickey before. He also said he's that duck on your shirt's— Donald I think his name was?—Well, he said that he's his uncle."

"Cool," I told him. "I've met Scrooge before."

Lea smiled and left the room, leaving the door open for Isa to follow. The blue-haired teen paused in the doorway, looking back and forth between Riku and me.

"So, Nobodies can't feel—_anything_?" Isa asked us, looking upset.

Riku nodded, glancing up at him.

Isa looked down at his shoes. "I—I heard Marluxia say that Lea and me become Nobodies… Was he telling the truth?"

I opened my mouth to say something nice to him, but he cut me off.

"Never mind," he told me heading out of the door at Lea calling his name. "I don't really want to know—bye."

I sighed taking off my slipper once more, tossing it, though I guessed that I had aimed wrong, because it landed pass my outstretched hand and hit the floor.

…

"Sora," someone whispered.

I lifted my pillow and stuck it over my head. No one, and mean _no one _was going to wake me up from this dream! I was finally visiting Santa again!

"Sora!" the person repeated, taking the pillow off of my head and shaking me. "You need to get up, Even and I just managed to open the time portal!"

That did it for me; I was _wide awake_ now. I sat up and looked at Ienzo, who was standing by my bed. From the rays of the early morning light shining in from around our curtains, I could just barely make out Riku standing up behind Ienzo. Gauging by the light streaming in, it had to be _really_ early!

"Hurry!" Ienzo told me, as I slowly swung my legs out of bed. "I don't know how long it is going to remain open. It was already fading as I left!"

I jumped up hurriedly, and then got down on all fours and felt around my bed for my slippers. At last I found them half under the bed. I put them on my feet and quickly stood up to head for the door, which Riku had already gone through.

Outside in the hall I found that almost everyone else was already up. I felt someone tap my shoulder as I quickly strode down the hall. It was Lea.

"Do you know where we're going?" he asked me, yawning widely.

I was about to answer him on my way down the stairs, but Demyx beat me to it.

"To another time period!" Demyx informed him excitedly. "Isn't that great? Maybe this one will have a hot shower!"

Lea had started to respond, but I didn't stop to hear what he had to say. I had spotted Riku rushing out the front door of the inn, and I ran to try and catch up with him.

Riku was running towards the place where Even and Ienzo had been working on the portal. I didn't manage to catch up with him until he had slowed down to a stop upon reaching Even.

"No, you can't go through there yet!" I heard Even tell Riku. "If someone goes through it'll just close faster. You have to wait until everyone else gets here!"

I glanced at the portal; it was growing rather faint. A little alarmed now, I started looking around for the rest of the people. I spotted them heading towards us from a little ways away still.

"They aren't exactly sure how they opened the portal the first time, and Ienzo doesn't know if he can reopen the same portal more then once," Riku informed me. "So we _have to go through this portal_."

I nodded in agreement, just as everyone else reached us.

"So… Do we just go through?" Isa asked Ienzo uncertainly.

"Yes," Ienzo replied. "As soon as Sora, Riku and Even get through."

I looked at him in surprise; why send Even with us?

"Come on, Sora," Riku told me pulling on my arm. "We better hurry."

I quickly followed Riku and Even through the portal, the latter seeming quite eager to go through. Once we had reached it I heard Ienzo dishing out more orders.

When we had stepped into the portal I felt the familiar dizzying sensation from before as everything swam in front of my eyes. Then it was as though I had fallen from a great height, and my feet had fallen out from under me.

I didn't pass out this time! That was good! I slowly got to my feet; once I started to feel a little steady on them I opened my eyes and looked around. I let out a gasp just as several more people rushed through the portal.

"Uhh… This is great and all," I heard Demyx say from behind me. "But where's the bathtub?"


	6. Cheerful Worlds

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Disney or Kingdom Hearts related.

Authors note: I managed to add a few Disney characters within this chapter, yay! I'm debating adding in one or more of the other Organization XIII members, particularly Larxene or Lexeaus. What do you think? Please review :)

Thanks for beta'ing this Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Six: Cheerful Worlds

Had I made the right decision in helping Master Xehanort? The more I thought about it, I wasn't sure if I had. Though I saw no way out of it now; Vanitas and I would be leaving on our mission at any moment. Yesterday when I had spoken with Xehanort for the first time, he hadn't specified the hour that we would be leaving, but instead just said that it would be sometime today.

I stood up and crossed the room to one of my windows; it looked the same as it always did outside here: all dark with a thick layer of mist covering everything. I actually hadn't seen the sun in a very _long_ time. A thick layer of clouds covered it here, almost giving the impression that the sun didn't exist in this time period.

Vanitas had finally told me only this morning what year I was currently in. His answer had greatly surprised me; I was currently in the year 2482, which had come as a great shock to me for some reason.

As far as I could tell, the only people who dwelt in this time period were Xehanort, Vanitas, Kairi and myself. The land looked completely uninhabited, with the only building for as far as the eye could see being the one I was in now.

I didn't like it here. It was always so cold and depressing. Though part of the reason for the latter could be that Vanitas was very hard to get along with. I really wasn't sure what we were going to do on our quest together. Vanitas was always quite cold whenever I tried to speak to him, though he had gotten a little better since I had first met him. He didn't seem that fond of his master, either. From the two times I had spoken with Xehanort (one having been yesterday after breakfast, and the other two hours ago) he had always been very to nice Vanitas.

Hmm… I guess Vanitas just didn't like other people that much.

I hadn't seen Kairi since the one time down in the dungeons, though Xehanort had told me that he planned to release her shortly after Vanitas and I left.

Just then someone knocked softly on my bedroom door.

"Xion?" I heard Xehanort call through the door. "May we come in?"

"Yes," I answered, turning away from the window.

The door opened and Xehanort stepped in, followed closely by my companion. Vanitas was carrying a rather large bag over his shoulder; in a closer inspection I realized that the bag looked quite similar to a backpack. In Vanitas's other hand he held a similar, somewhat smaller bag.

Xehanort smiled and walked across my room, joining me by my window. He stood there silently, gazing out through the thick layer of mist.

Vanitas also stood watching Xehanort for a moment, before walking over to me. Once he stood within a foot of me, he held out the smaller of the two bags for me to take.

"Here, this is for you," he told me as I took the bag from him. "We got you some different clothes."

I unzipped the middle compartment of it and peered inside. For some reason I had been expecting to see one or two more long black coats, and I was pleasantly surprised to find different colors within the bag.

"You won't be traveling through many Lanes Between where you're headed. But if you like you may bring your coat as well," Xehanort said as he finally turned away from the window. "We will leave you to change. Come out in the hall once you get done."

I nodded. "Okay… Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Xehanort told me. At this, he and Vanitas left the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

I walked over to my bed and sat down, placing the bag beside me. I started taking out the outfits and examining them. This would be the first time that I had ever worn anything besides the typical 'Organization XIII uniform.' For the first few months that I had been in the Organization, I had thought that _everyone_ wore the coat, until Axel had corrected me and pointed out Hayner, Pence and Olette's outfits to me.

It took me about ten minutes to figure out what I wanted to wear, and a short while longer to figure out exactly how to put several accessories (such as a belt) into place.

Once I finished, I was wearing a short turquoise-blue dress with brown straps crisscrossing at the front. At my waist I had a slightly off-centered brown belt. On my hands I wore a pair of soft, brown gloves extending up my arm and falling a few inches below my shoulder. I also wore a pair of matching turquoise tights that were probably two shades lighter then my dress. My feet were concealed by a pair of brown boots with _turquoise _straps crisscrossing on the top.

I loved the outfit, it was much nicer then my normal Organization coat.

I picked up the bag containing several more outfits and put my coat inside as well, before zipping the bag shut. I picked it up and left the room.

Vanitas and Xehanort were waiting at the end of the corridor, as promised. Vanitas muttering something under his breath as I walked up, though he stopped suddenly upon noticing me. Then he fell silent and scowled.

"Are you ready to go?" Vanitas asked, stooping to pick up his bag from the floor.

"Yeah, I am," I answered him. I then turned to Xehanort and smiled. "Thanks for the clothes, Master Xehanort."

"Your welcome," he replied, beaming. "I thought you might like those."

I looked over at Vanitas as he let out an impatient sigh. The dark-haired boy had changed his clothes as well; he was no longer wearing his red-and-black body suit! He was now wearing some loose jeans, the hem of which occasionally touching the floor. With these pants he also wore a black belt. Accompanying this was a red tank-top shirt with black straps crossing on the front, in the same way that mine did, except for the color.

"Well then," Xehanort said, placing one hand on my shoulder and the other on Vanitas's, whom wore a stony expression on his face. "I do hope to be seeing you both again quite soon. Hopefully this book won't take too awful long to find… Anyway, I wish you both the best of luck!"

He released us and made a sudden motion with his wrist, causing one of those strange portals to appear.

"Unfortunately, you both may be doing a bit of traveling through the passages of time… Though it doesn't take long to get used to," Xehanort assured me, a sympathetic look on his face. "Good-bye."

I watched Vanitas step into the portal and disappear, and then I too approached it. When I was directly in front of it I turned back and waved. Squeezing my eyes shut, I stepped into the portal. The next thing I knew I was on my hands and knees on some colorful street. This time I had fallen from somewhere above rather than simply stepping out of it onto level ground. I heard someone squeal from nearby, and then I heard Vanitas speaking.

"No! Really, we're fine!" I heard him yell angrily from nearby. It sounded as though…he were above me?

"You sure? You look as if you could use some help," a voice said.

"Of course I'm sure!" he exclaimed again. Then I heard a crash and something (or someone) fell on top of me.

I gasped as my breath got knocked out from me. I then twisted around to try and see what was on top of my back. I heard Vanitas grumble something under his breath and then the weight lifted. I sat up and looked around. It had been Vanitas who had fallen on top of me; it looked like he had somehow landed inside a popcorn machine, which was currently broken into several pieces with popcorn flying everywhere.

"What was he thinking?" Vanitas mumbled from beside me, now rubbing his head.

Someone laughed from in front of us, and I glanced around to see who it was. My eyes widened; there were three small ducks standing before us.

"Umm, hello," I told them wearily, glancing between each member of the young trio in turn.

"Hi! I'm Huey," the one in red informed me, grinning from ear-to-ear. "The one in blue's Dewey, and the one in green's Louie. What're your names?"

"Xion," I told them. "Its nice to meet you guys."

Vanitas sighed beside me. "I'm Vanitas."

"Nice to meet you!" the three of them told us in unison.

They stepped forward and dragged the two of us to our feet, Vanitas protesting grumpily.

"You two fell from quite a ways," Dewey said. "Would you like some ice cream? I'll give you some for free if you like!"

"Its okay, you don't have to do that!" I exclaimed quickly as Louie pulled me over towards a small stand.

"Here!" Huey said, handing me some familiar looking ice cream on a stick. Then he held one out to Vanitas, who frowned at it. "Don't you like ice cream?"

Vanitas looked back and forth between the ice cream being held out to him and me. Finally, he begrudgingly accepted it, as Dewey and Louie pushed us both back down into a sitting position.

"Umm, thanks!" I told them, which was returned with grins from all three ducklings. "I love Sea-salt ice cream. But are you sure you don't want me to pay for it?"

"Nah," Louie assured me. "It's fine."

I took a bite of the ice cream, remembering the first time that Roxas and I had sat at the top of the clock tower eating this same flavor of ice cream while watching the sunset…

Vanitas didn't let my happy memories last long though.

"We really don't have time for this," Vanitas groaned, seeming to be speaking to himself. "Really, what was he _thinking_ sending us here?"

"Perhaps he thought that the book might be here?" I asked him. Xehanort had made it sound as though it could be practically anywhere. My guess would be he figured that here was as good a place to start as any.

"It wouldn't be here," Vanitas informed me, sounding very certain of himself.

How could he really be so sure? I took another bite out of my ice cream as I thought about this. I then began to observe all of my surroundings; the town that we were in was very colorful, with several large bushes surrounding the street along with a mailbox. In the center of the plaza there was a small building that had a roof but was covered at the sides… It looked like a nice place to get some shade. Right now, Vanitas and I were standing in what looked quite a bit like a small stage.

"Here," Vanitas said, standing up and thrusting his untouched ice cream into Dewey's hand. "Thanks for the ice cream, but we have to get going. Nice meeting you all."

Vanitas strode over to me and half-dragged me to my feet, then he kept a hold of my arm as he made his way quickly to another street.

"Oh…bye!" I called back to the confused ducklings. I felt really bad just accepting their free ice cream and then leaving before even finishing it. "Thanks so much for the ice cream!"

"Your welcome!" Huey called waving animatedly at me.

"I hope you liked it!" Louie yelled, him and Dewey also waving madly as we rounded the corner.

I turned back around to look at Vanitas when the trio was out from sight. After walking a few paces onto that street, Vanitas opened up a portal leading to the Lanes Between. I pulled my arm from his grasp just before he stepped into it.

"Vanitas?" I asked, causing him to turn around and frown at me. "Don't you think we ought to look for some sign of the book in this world before we head to another one?"

Vanitas sighed and shook his head. "Master Xehanort probably just sent us to the wrong world or something. Because I'm _telling _you, it's not going to be here!"

I hesitated for a moment longer, thinking hard about what he was saying. Could his master have really just been mistaken? I found that a little hard to believe. Though I suppose that Vanitas _would_ know better then me; he had known Xehanort for years.

"You coming?" Vanitas asked, his foot literally an inch from the portal.

Nodding reluctantly, I walked into the portal and stood just inside it to wait for him to enter. I was quite relieved to be traveling through this portal, because traveling through the Lanes Between was much more pleasant then going through the passages of time. Vanitas joined me inside the corridor a second later.

"Lets go this way," Vanitas told me, before striding off through the dark corridor.

...

Within a few minutes we were walking through an opening to another world, one that I hadn't been to before.

Once we had entered it, Vanitas turned to look at me.

"Radiant Garden, now I think that_ this_ world would be a better place to start," he informed me, and then he walked away to take a look around.

I followed slowly, also examining the world that we were now in. I couldn't find any word to best describe it, so I'd have to simply refer to it as breathtaking. We were in a large open area with fountains spurting up in several places, the way they did so, however, cast a sort of pink haze on everything. I could've easily just laid down upon the ground and gazed up at them to listen to the sound of the rushing water, and I would have been entirely content.

For some reason, this place reminded me of something I heard about before… I hadn't been here before though, so maybe someone had told me about it?

"Come on," Vanitas said, now quite a ways away from me and about to turn a corner. "Let's try looking around town."

"Okay," I replied, running over to where he was standing. As eager as I was to stay and keep looking around this area, I was almost just as eager to see what the rest of the world looked like.

…

The town proved to be fairly normal, but I did like it a bit more then Twilight Town. All it needed was a clock tower and then it would have been perfect.

After walking aimlessly around the town for a while, Vanitas turned towards a door to a house. He stopped at the door and stared at it for a moment before reaching out a hand and knocking upon it.

We waited there silently for quite some time before we heard the door unlock and then open. An aged man stood at the door, staring at us with a curious expression.

"Why, hello," he said, looking back and forth between us. "Could I help you with something?"

"Actually yes," Vanitas told him. "We're wondering if you have seen any odd looking book… I'm not sure how to describe it—as I've never actually seen it before. But it'll be old, frayed, maybe even torn."

The man appeared lost in thought for a moment.

"Well, I have seen many books in my day. Some that even fit your description," the man told us. "I have many of them here, you could come in and look for yourself if you like."

"Yes, thank you," Vanitas said as the man stepped aside for my companion and I to pass through.

The man's house was nice and cool, though very messy. There were several bookshelves inside the house however, so it was probably a good place to start looking.

I walked over to one of them and started pulling out books at random, especially any that looked exceptionally old. After taking out about 32 volumes and not finding anything that could be the book in question, I emptied a shelf of books and put them all carefully down on the floor. I then sat down and started looking through each of them in turn. I heard the man start humming from a short distance away at about the same time that I heard Vanitas let out a sigh and let several books fall to the floor.

"Hey!" the man called, hurrying over to us. "Be careful with my books, young man! If you won't then you'll just have to leave!"

Vanitas bent down and picked up the books that had fallen. He straightened out and started putting them back in their respectful shelves.

"Sorry," he muttered in an undertone, while running his fingers through his untidy hair. "He's given us an impossible mission."

"Who gave you an impossible task?" the old man asked Vanitas, curiosity filling his tone. "And I don't believe you two have given me your names. My name is Merlin, I'm a wizard."

"My name's Vanitas," Vanitas informed the man, while glaring at the bookshelf next to the one I was at. "We're helping this certain old man find his lost book."

"I'm Xion," I told the man, offering him a smile. "Its nice to meet you, Merlin."

"Here," Merlin said while heading over to a bookshelf nearby. "I'll help you look."

After about two hours had passed and Vanitas and I (with Merlin's help) had checked every single book, we finally decided that it wasn't within the wizard's house.

"Thank you so much for your help, Merlin," I told him as we headed for the front door.

"Oh, you're welcome," he said as he headed back through his small house. "It was a pleasure."

We stepped out onto the wizard's front steps, Vanitas shutting the door behind us.

"Vanitas?" I started. "What was the world called that got destroyed? You know, the one with the book?"

"You heard Master Xehanort, its gone—or at least changed," Vanitas told me impatiently. "But it was called 'The Land of Departure.'"

"If there's anything left of the world at all, then perhaps we should try looking around there for it?" I asked him, tilting my head to the side.

"We won't be able to get very far in this time era," Vanitas told me, his yellowish eyes lost in thought. "But perhaps we should go there…in another time period."

"Okay," I agreed, as I continued to walk down Merlin's steps and enter the street.

Vanitas took the lead once again as we turned onto a side street. After checking to make sure that no one else was around, Vanitas lifted his palm, wearing a look of deep concentration upon his face. After about three minutes had passed, a portal of a clear pearly white color appeared.

"This should take us to the right time period," Vanitas said gesturing for me to go through it. "And _hopefully_ to the right world as well."

I stepped into it, followed closely by Vanitas, and then everything slowly faded from sight.

…

"Xion."

I opened my eyes and blinked. Vanitas was bent down beside me, and for a moment I could've sworn that I saw a look of concern flash across his face. Actually I was quite sure, as it lingered for a second.

"Don't let anything Master Xehanort says make you think otherwise," Vanitas said while getting to his feet. He then held out a hand to help me up. "You _never_ get used to traveling through those portals."

I laughed bitterly. But, hang on a second… Vanitas had made a joke! Until now I hadn't been sure if he even knew how too.

Vanitas smirked and turned around, his eyes flicking back and forth around the clearing.

"Behold," Vanitas began, gesturing around at the area. "The Land of Departure."


	7. Reunion Between Two Brothers

Authors Note: This chapter may be a little dull, but it was necessary. Anyway please let me know what you think :)

Thanks for beta'ing this Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Seven: Reunion Between Two Brothers

"No kidding," Braig said, his eyes darting over the dark expanse of land. "For some reason I don't get the impression that there are _any_ bathrooms here…period."

I was a bit lost for words. There was literally _nothing_ in this time period. Or at least, not that I could see. This world was cold, dark and dead-looking. I couldn't see any trees or vegetation anywhere. Literally_ everything _was gray, and when I looked up I couldn't make out the sun; it was completely hidden behind a thick layer of dark clouds.

"What has happened here?" I heard Even ask in wonder. "Everything is—well, ruined."

I folded my arms and shivered. It was really cold there, and my pajamas weren't very warm. At least my pants weren't shorts or capris though, like most of my other pajamas were. However, I kind of wished that I wasn't wearing short-sleeves.

Demyx sighed, propping his sitar on the ground while placing his arm across the top and leaning against it.

"Aww, man," Demyx said disappointedly. "This doesn't look like it's going to be any fun."

Marluxia, who had been glaring around at the devastated world, suddenly rounded on Ienzo.

"What was the point in bringing all of us here?" he demanded.

"I am afraid that we did not yet know how to work the portal," Ienzo told us apologetically. "I'm sorry. But perhaps this is where Xehanort took Kairi?"

"That's a possibility, I guess," Riku said doubtfully, as his turquoise eyes took in all the surrounding area.

"So, uh…" I started, looking around at all of my companions. "What do we do now?"

Ienzo turned to look at me and frowned. "Well—"

He stopped suddenly as a man came running up. He had platinum-blond hair in a long boy cut, with messy bangs on either side of his face. My guess would be that he was anywhere from his late forties to early fifties.

The man appeared quite shocked to see all of us, standing rooted to the spot with his mouth gaping open. He looked a lot like someone else I knew…

Even strode the few paces over to the man, and held out his hand for the man to shake.

"Hello," Even told him, taking charge. "I'm Even, and these are all of my companions. Do you live here?"

The man stared at him silently for a moment, the look on his face suggesting that Even had three heads. Then he too reached out a hand and shook Even's.

"Yes, I do live here," the man informed him. "My name is David, and I must say, I wasn't expecting to get anymore visitors any time soon."

"Did you say_ anymore _visitors?" I asked excitedly. "Have you seen anyone else? Like an old man and a girl?"

The man named David turned to look at me, frowning slightly upon my words. "I didn't see any old man, just a girl."

That_ had _to be Kairi! I grinned over at Riku before turning back to face David once again.

"Was her name Kairi?" I asked. I was trying really hard to stand still, though I was quite close to jumping up and down in joy.

"Well… She never got to tell me her name," David told me, scratching his head thoughtfully. "But if this helps at all, she had short black hair, indigo-blue eyes, and she was wearing a long black coat."

I stared at him, my excitement slowly draining away. That wasn't what Kairi looked like. I mean, sure she had indigo-blue eyes, but her hair was auburn and fell past her shoulders. She was also most likely _not_ wearing a long black coat.

"That sounds like Xion," Demyx said slowly, a deep frown creasing his forehead. "Was she dressed sorta like me?"

David nodded. "Yes, almost exactly like you."

"Xion…" Riku whispered softly, from where he was standing beside me. "Ungh…"

I glanced over at Riku as he made a sudden motion, bringing his hands up to his head. He now stood covering his face, his fingers embedded within his thick locks of hair.

"Riku?" I asked in surprise. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing—" Riku assured me. He then glanced upward and looked at David. "Is she still here?"

"No, I'm afraid that she isn't. Some strange boy came, and I'm guessing he took her. But since he knocked me out…I'm not entirely sure," David told him, before gesturing over at me. "But he looked a great deal like your companion there."

Practically every head turned in my direction, with Even, Dilan and Marluxia all glaring at me.

Wait a sec… They didn't all think that _I_ had been here…did they?

"Umm, look guys," I began, holding out my hands defensively. "That wasn't me. I was stuck in the fourteenth century just like the rest of you…remember?"

Dilan crossed his arms and frowned; he looked as though he didn't really believe me. Ugh! Really, how could they think that I had found a way here without them? It'd been me that had been pestering Ienzo and Even to reopen the portal in the first place, because I couldn't!

"It had to have been someone else," Ienzo said quietly after a moment of silence.

"Oh yes, it definitely wasn't him," David assured him. "This boy had ebony-colored hair and gold eyes. But I only saw him for a couple of seconds, so I could be slightly off."

"How can you even stand to _live_ here?" Marluxia asked in amazement, while continuing to glare at everyone, as if it were our fault that we had ended up in this desolate world.

"Yeah," Lea agreed. "I imagine that it would get pretty depressing living here after awhile."

We all remained silent for quite some time after that. I was wondering if there was any way that we could manage to open a time portal again. I mean if not… Were we going to be stuck here forever?

"You…said that your name was Even?" David asked, breaking up the silence while turning to look at the scientist.

"Yes... Why do you ask?" Even demanded, a slight frown forming upon his face.

David stood staring at the ground for a moment, absentmindedly kicking a pebble around with his foot. After several more moments of this, Even let out an impatient sigh and hopped from foot to foot out of annoyance (or it _could__'ve_ had something to do with it being really cold there). David finally looked up and watched Even's hopping silently for several more moments, until he finally responded.

"Well, I had a brother named Even…or have, I'm not sure," David informed him, his bright-green eyes lost in thought. "You look a lot like him…_exactly_ like him, in fact."

Even's scowl only deepened as he stood gazing at the older man.

You know, now that I thought about it, Even was the one I'd been thinking that David looked like. There eyes were both precisely the same shade of green, and their hair was almost the same kind of blond as well.

"Well… I also have a brother named David," Even told him. "But you're not him. My brother is currently in my home world, in _my _time period, in_ my_ house. Plus he is also 14, whereas you must be like what, 50, 51?"

"Forty-nine actually," the man corrected him, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Forgive me, I must've been mistaken."

"Maybe not," Isa said, speaking up for the first time since we had arrived in this time period. He appeared deep in thought.

All eyes turned to Isa now, with Demyx looking just as confused as I _felt._

"What do you mean, kid?" asked Braig impatiently at the same time that Ienzo also spoke.

"Yes, there is quite a possibility that you both _are_ related," Ienzo informed them. "Think about it: most of us came here from different time periods, didn't we? David _could _very well be your brother, Even."

"Yeah," Isa muttered in agreement. "That's what I was thinking."

"That does make sense Even," Terra said thoughtfully. "You both look a lot alike."

Even looked at Ienzo in surprise for a moment, before turning back once more to observe David.

"So you…could be my brother?" Even asked after a moment. "I guess if my brother was your age…then he might look a bit like you."

"You have to be him then," David said, his face breaking into a wide grin. "Because, as I said, you look _just_ like him."

"This is all rather strange," Even said. "Last I saw my younger brother he was—well—a lot younger then me."

Braig groaned as he put a hand across his face.

"This is going to take _forever_!" he moaned grumpily. "If you all don't mind, I'm going to go and look around. Come and find me if you're going to be heading someplace warm."

"Fine, do what you like," Ienzo told him. However, he wore a suspicious look on his face as he watched Braig walk off.

Hmm, maybe he was just irritated with Braig; he really _did_ have a way of getting on people's nerves.

…

My feet crunched upon the dry ground as I made my way towards a place that I was scheduled to meet someone. There were some things going as planned, and others that really weren't. I wasn't sure on how the old man would take the fact that I hadn't gotten one of the people that he _really_ wanted to join us. He didn't much like it when things didn't go as they were supposed to.

After I walked in several circles and got lost too many times to count, I _finally _found the man that I was looking for. He was standing behind an old cottage; probably where that man, David, lived.

"Hey, Xehanort!" I called as I rounded the corner.

The old man slowly turned around to face me, wearing an expression that I couldn't read.

"You certainly took your time," Xehanort informed me, a cold edge to his tone.

"Yeah, well," I started, nervously running my fingers through my shoulder-length hair. "I sorta got lost."

Xehanort watched me silently for a minute or so. I finally realized that he seemed to be waiting for _me _to speak first. So...I decided to humor him.

"So! How are things going on your end?" I asked.

"All's well with me," he said in reply, his expression unchanging. "Vanitas and Xion are both on the mission that I assigned to them. Kairi is being slightly troublesome, but since it appears that Sora and Riku are now both _here_, I do think that keeping her is worth it."

I nodded in agreement. Pretty much whatever Xehanort said was law, so I didn't find any reason _to_ disagree.

"So tell me," Xehanort began, his bright, gold eyes now examining the devastated world. "How are things going with Sora's group? Do we have the scientist helping us?"

"Eh…well—no," I told him, not meeting his eye. "He has downright refused to help us. But we do still have the other two! And there is one other that I think might help us as well."

"I see…" Xehanort said slowly, now wearing a slight frown upon his face. "However, it would be very good if we could get the scientist, Even, to join us. He would be helpful."

From out in the distance I started being able to make out the sound of voices heading towards the cottage that we were standing behind. While I had been trying to find this place, the others must have finished talking. Which meant that I didn't have much time left before I needed to circle back and meet up with them again.

"Is there anything else that you need to tell me, Braig? Or is that all?" Xehanort asked me, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Since you took your time, we don't have long to speak."

"Well," I began, "one of the people within Sora's group that _is _helping us isn't sure if he wants to anymore."

"See to it that he stays on our side then," Xehanort told me, as if there was no question about it. "We can't have him running off and telling Sora everything."

"Uh, right!" I answered._ That_ was going to be easier said then done.

With that Xehanort opened one of those time portal thingies, and in the blink of an eye was gone.

I sighed; he had made it all sound so easy.

…

So, Even had a little brother. Hopefully he would be a little less annoying then his older brother. David did seem a bit more normal than Even though, which was _definitely _a good thing.

At the moment we were all trekking along to wherever it was that David's cottage was located. He had promised that it would be warmer inside there, and that we could all decide our next move with a nice cup of hot tea.

Apart from the occasional large slope or rock, our scenery really didn't change that awful much until a small cottage came into view. Now the surroundings_ around _the cottage were a bit nicer. An ocean stretched out for as far as the eye could see behind the small building. It appeared to start no farther then about 12 feet behind the cottage, its waves occasionally almost touching it. A thick layer of mist sweeping amongst us seemed to be coming from the vast expanse of water. David also had a tree in front of his house! It looked like it was dying though, since there weren't any leaves on the branches and the bark was turning gray… Just like everything else here.

The two brothers were making their way towards the cottage very slowly; so slow, in fact, that it was starting to get on my nerves. So when we were all still some distance from it I sped up to a run, planning to wait for everyone else by the door. From behind me I heard several of the others speed up as well. I stopped near the door and turned around in time to see Riku, Lea, Isa and Demyx come to a halt right behind me.

"Do you think the door's locked?" Demyx inquired, looking first at the door and then at the rest of our companions that were still making their way towards us.

"Hmm… I don't know, maybe," I replied as I crossed my arms and started shifting from foot to foot.

"If no one else lives here…" Riku said, his words slowly trailing off.

"_Well_," Lea began, striding up to the door and placing his hand on the doorknob. "How about we find out?"

Lea turned the knob and the door easily swung open (much unlike the one at the inn). He then turned back around to look at us, grinning before disappearing into the small house. Isa almost seemed to hesitate, but then followed Lea inside. The other two and I then went in as well.

The cottage was only one room. One _large_ room that seemed to consist of all other rooms you might find in a house. Nearest to us was an area that looked like a rather small kitchen. A countertop was attached to a wall with a cupboard resting underneath it. Right beside the small counter was a stove, with two more cupboards right above it. Not too far from all of this was a table with four chairs around it. At the far side of the room was a bed with a miniature stand beside it, and in the far corner of the room was a small living area with a couch and a chair. Inside the house was also a shelf that consisted of many bottles, along with a bookshelf. Three lanterns were lit around the cottage, all placed in strategic locations so that a reasonable amount of light illuminated the entire cottage. David had been right; it _was_ a lot warmer inside the small building.

"Hey!"

I jumped and glanced back over my shoulder. Braig was standing in the doorway now; it had been him who had spoken. "I thought I saw you three come in here."

"Hi Braig," I greeted, somewhat grumpily. I then walked over to the table and sat down on one of the chairs. Demyx and Riku both came and joined me. Isa was standing next to Braig by the door, and Lea was walking around examining the entire house.

"It would be really dull living here," Lea said after a moment. "There's not even anything fun to do."

"See those books, Lea?" Isa asked, gesturing over to a bookshelf by the wall opposite the stove. "You know…some people _enjoy _reading."

"Huh? I don't see why," Lea muttered, frowning as he scratched the back of his head. "But okay, even for people who _do _like to read, wouldn't it be hard to read the same books day after day for a _really_ long time?"

Isa sighed and shook his head, as if he thought Lea was being ridiculous.

"Yeah," Riku interjected into the conversation. "I'd imagine."

After that, we all remained silent until the rest of our companions came trooping in single file.

"Okay!" David said, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to go and make us all some tea."

Ienzo strode over to us and sat down in the remaining chair across from me.

"This cottage is a bit nicer then what I had been expecting," he told us as he stole a glance around. "It is quite nice considering."

"I don't know," Lea began slowly. He walked over to stand near us. "I thought that it would be a bit more… Well, I don't know exactly."

Across from Riku, Demyx made his sitar disappear.

"So…it looks as though Even has a younger brother," Ienzo said. "He seems fairly nice."

"Heh, he doesn't quite fit 'younger' right now, does he?" Lea asked, chuckling to himself.

"Well yes, at the moment," Ienzo said. "But in technicality… Anyway, it doesn't appear that Kairi is here. But, I'm sure that we will find her."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, of course we will!"

"So Ienzo," Riku began, turning to look at the steel-haired teen. "Do you have any idea what we should do now?"

Ienzo sat down, studying the ground for a moment. A slight frown creased his forehead.

"Well, I think perhaps we should explore the rest of this world," Ienzo said, raising several gloved fingers to his forehead. "And then we should travel through the dark corridors to search in other worlds… Perhaps we should have done that before we came here."

"No, that wouldn't have helped us find Kairi," I told him. "Xehanort took her to another time period. So…we're probably better off here."

"Yeah, he's got a point there," Terra said as he slowly strode over to us. "And we should probably start looking around this world as soon as possible."

"Hey, I think I'm going to go have a quick look around now before it gets any darker," Riku said. He then stood up from our table.

"I'll come!" I said quickly, also rising from my seat.

"Hmm, yes we might as well go now," Ienzo agreed, pushing back his chair.

…

About five minutes later, I was standing beside David's tree in front of his house. A larger group then we had anticipated had decided to join us in taking a look around. Lea and Isa had been quite eager to come, as well as Ven and Aqua. Terra was also with us; he had said that if we came upon Xehanort again that he wanted to be there to talk to him. Then Ienzo had wanted to come as well. Since Riku had been the one who had suggested that we go in the first place, he, of course, had come.

David had tried to insist that we stay long enough to have tea, but we—or at least _Riku and I_—had been quite eager to start looking.

"So!" Lea began, looking around in anticipation. "Where do we go first?"

"Umm, lets go…" I spun in a slow circle while trying to decide where to start. "In…uh, that way direction!"

I said this, gesturing randomly to the Northeast. But they all seemed to think that we might as well go that way, and so we headed off.


	8. Master of The Land of Departure

Chapter Eight: Master of The Land of Departure

_The Land of Departure… _

The world was almost completely destroyed; now I could see why Vanitas had been slightly reluctant to come. A building that could've once been a castle stood before us, its edges broken away from the center.

"Well, we aren't going to find anything out here," Vanitas informed me. "Let's go inside."

He then began striding towards the door of the large building before us. I followed slowly, looking around as I tried hard to stop feeling so dizzy.

Vanitas pulled open the double doors and went through, and I once again followed. We entered a long, wide hallway with a large staircase lying directly in front of us. The inside was almost entirely ruined, with lots of debris and large parts of the walls and roof lying littered across the floor. The place had really been torn apart.

"Okay, lets start looking," Vanitas said as he began ascending the staircase. I started heading up the staircase as well, still looking around at what had once probably been a very nice building.

Once we reached the top we turned right and went through another set of double doors. These led straight into what looked like a throne room. The room was quite large, and at the end of it there sat three throne-esque chairs. Who had lived here? I figured it must have been someone important.

"How about we search around in here first?" Vanitas suggested while turning to look at me. "Who knows, it could be underneath one of those chairs or something."

I nodded. "Okay."

I then set to work, circling the three thrones and examining underneath them. Meanwhile Vanitas strode away to look at something by the wall. There wasn't anything underneath the large chairs, except for a thin layer of dust. Someone must have been here not too long ago.

_"I'm __feeling__ as though I__'m__ on a recon mission for the Organization,"_ I thought to myself, almost laughing.

I walked over to Vanitas to see if he had found anything interesting, but it didn't really look as though he had. He was crouched down to examine a bit of the floor that had been torn up, and all he kept pulling up was bits of ruble.

"Vanitas?" I began, tilting my head to one side and causing my bangs to fall into my face. "Who was it that had lived here?"

Vanitas stood up, brushing off his pants before looking at me.

"The man's name was Eraqus," Vanitas told me. "He trained with Master Xehanort. This land was passed on to him after his master died."

Vanitas then began walking away towards the opposite wall.

"Was there anything interesting by the chairs?" he asked me, bending down once again to plunge his hand within another hole.

"Nope," I replied, and then further asked, "what happened to him?"

"He died," Vanitas responded without looking up.

"Did he die of old age?" I further pressed. I was unsure of how much longer Vanitas was going to keep answering my questions.

"…No," Vanitas answered slowly, pausing briefly. "He got killed actually… By his own pupil."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "That's awful."

"Yeah," Vanitas agreed. He straightened before walking over to the door we had come from, cracking it so that he could look behind it. He certainly was doing a very thorough job of looking for the book in this world.

I walked away, but was only halfway across the room when Vanitas pulled the door back open.

"I don't think it's here," Vanitas informed me. "We should go look in Eraqus's old room."

"Okay," I replied, turning back around and following him out the door.

Instead of turning onto the stairs we went right and walked along the hallway above. We continued through a large door leading to a somewhat smaller corridor. Near the end of the hall were three doors, one leading straight and two remaining on either side. Vanitas turned through the left door. It led to a smaller hallway, containing only two doors. This time we went through the one leading straight, which brought us into a very large room; a bedroom that was very nicely decorated.

"Hmm," Vanitas murmured. "He had a nice room."

"Yeah, it is very nice in here," I agreed, looking around at all of the eccentric decorations.

"I think we have a better chance of finding it in here," Vanitas told me. "I guess it'd make sense if the man kept it in his own bedroom."

I nodded, moving over to a bookshelf that was about the same size as the ones in Merlin's house. I began pulling out books, starting with the uppermost shelf. There were many old books on it, even one about Kingdom Hearts! I flipped through most of the book's pages before carrying it over to Vanitas, who was looking inside a box that he had found underneath the bed.

"Do you think this could be it?" I asked, holding it out to him.

He frowned at it thoughtfully before reaching out and taking it. He began flipping through the pages, a bit more slowly then I had.

"You will not find what you're looking for here."

I whipped around, instinctively pulling out my Keyblade. Vanitas closed the book swiftly and tossed it aside in response, glaring at the man who now stood in the doorway.

I wasn't exactly sure on who he was, for he was wearing a long black coat like the one I had from the Organization, hood drawn high.

"Who're you?" Vanitas demanded, taking out his Keyblade as well. "And…what will we not find?"

The man slowly lowered his hood in answer, his head turned toward Vanitas. The man had shoulder-length black hair, with the first layer tied back in a ponytail. I couldn't quite discern his age, but he did look like he was over middle-age.

Vanitas let out a gasp, gripping his Keyblade more tightly. "You!"

"So," the man began, looking Vanitas up and down. "You must be Vanitas. Tell me, how is your master '_Xehanort_' doing?"

"Fine," Vanitas answered, continuing glaring at the man. "What about you? We haven't heard from you in awhile."

"I have been better," the man told him. "Now I'm curious, what is this girl doing with _you_?"

I stared at him, not sure on quite how to answer; it didn't sound as though he were expecting me to, as he was still glaring at Vanitas instead.

Vanitas shot me a swift glance, a somewhat wary look on his face.

"She's helping us," he replied haughtily. "She understands that what we're fighting for is right."

The man raised an eyebrow skeptically before looking at me.

"Do you?" he asked. "Or are you unsure?"

"I—" I began, not exactly sure on what to say. No, I wasn't entirely sure, but I couldn't say that. "I trust them."

The man still wore a doubtful expression, turning to face Vanitas once more.

"What lies have you fed this girl?" he demanded. "She must not know the truth, or else she wouldn't be helping you."

"Of course she knows the truth," Vanitas snapped irritably.

"Well then, Xion," the man said, frowning at me. "Sora and his friends have a reason for not helping this man and his elderly master."

I looked at him. Something told me to believe him, but…

"I know Xehanort like my own brother," the man continued. "He is after Kingdom Hearts, and plans to use its power as a means to bring about the destruction of all the worlds! You _should_ be helping Sora prevent that!"

I could only stare at him. What he was saying honestly seemed right, but if he were somehow wrong…

I was about to speak, debating helping him. However, Vanitas seemed to have had enough of our conversation.

"Enough of your lies, old man!" he yelled, his bright yellowish eyes glinting in near rage.

Upon saying this, Vanitas transferred his Keyblade to both hands. Holding it high above his head, Vanitas leapt at the man; aiming to send it slamming down into the older man's head. However the man leaped back out of the way, and pulled out a weapon of his own: a Keyblade.

I watched, once again unsure of what to do. They now began fighting around the room. There was one thing holding me back from joining them, and that was: if I _were_ to join in, who would I help?

It was hard to keep track of what was going on, as they both resembled two blurs moving from one end of the room to the other. They continued doing this until Vanitas aimed for the man, missed and hit the bookshelf, sending many books crashing down over his own head. As soon as most of the books had stopped falling, I saw the man appear right behind Vanitas, slicing his Keyblade swiftly through the air.

"Vanitas!" I gasped. "Look out!"

Vanitas leaped aside, but not soon enough. However, the dark-haired man missed where he'd initially been aiming, and instead pierced into the flesh of Vanitas's arm.

"Urgh!" Vanitas brought his hand to the freshly made wound, a pained expression upon his face. Then he began charging at him once again.

The man, however, seemed to have had enough and stepped aside, opening a time portal instead of striking back.

"Think about it, Xion," the man said, stepping back into it. "You _know_ that what these people are doing isn't right."

With that he was gone, leaving a very irritated Vanitas behind.

We both remained silent for a few minutes, Vanitas breathing heavily. I then slowly began walking over to him.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, reaching out a hand and placing it on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he answered, his teeth tightly clinched. "Xion, don't believe a word that man says. He's the one who's really after Kingdom Hearts."

He then took a step backward and walked off across the room, back towards the door we'd come from.

"Let's go," Vanitas mumbled, jerking the door open. "You heard the man, it's not here."

I looked at him in surprise. "You believe him?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied agitatedly. "Let's go."

I followed him out of the room and down a hallway leading towards an even larger one.

"Who was he?" I asked.

"…Eraqus," Vanitas muttered, his voice barely audible.

"But wasn't that—?" I began. Vanitas nodded. "Weren't he and your master close?"

Vanitas opened the door leading to the larger corridor and went through; I followed without being prompted.

"Yeah, they were close once," he told me. "But Eraqus changed, and they're no longer after the same thing. Eraqus is no longer on our side."

"Oh," I muttered quietly. But that still left me wondering: _which one was right?_

We left the hall and began descending the stairs back to the first level. A few short minutes later Vanitas was pulling open the door leading to the outside. Almost immediately upon stepping out, he made another dark corridor appear. I stepped in, making a mental note that next time I stepped into one of those I had to put my Organization coat on first.

Vanitas followed me and then strode off, leaving me to follow along behind him.

We didn't wander through the portal for very long before turning through an archway leading into another world.

My eyes met a bright sunset the moment we entered the next world; I hardly had to glance around to figure out where we were. I turned to look at Vanitas.

"You think the book could be here?" I asked in mild surprise. "In Twilight Town?"

"I don't know," Vanitas answered. "But I think it's a decent place to find a hotel. It's past 11 at night."

"Oh." I hadn't expected it to be that late yet. It hadn't seemed like we were in The Land of Departure _that_ long.

"The only problem with this world is that it's locked within endless twilight, making it hard to sleep," Vanitas told me, scowling. "Unless you'd rather go back to Radiant Garden?"

I thought about that for a moment. I did feel safer in Twilight Town… but he _was_ right; Radiant Garden would be nice for its darkness.

"Hmm," I began. "Perhaps Radiant Garden?"

"Fine," Vanitas answered in response, opening a portal of time with less concentration then he had put into it the last time.

"We're traveling through a time portal?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Vanitas said. "I don't fancy going to Radiant Garden in this time period unless we want trouble. I'm just going to take us back a few months."

"Oh, all right," I said. I was really curious to find out what the trouble would be, but I wasn't about to ask; I didn't want to make him mad. Vanitas was actually getting much nicer as time went on. At times I almost enjoyed his company…_almost_.

We then stepped into the portal and left that time era altogether.

A few seconds later we stepped out into darkness of the night, in the middle of some housing within Radiant Garden.

"Well," Vanitas began. "Let's go find a hotel or an inn or something."

I nodded, and we headed off. On our way we passed that one place where we had first arrived in Radiant Garden earlier that day, and wow! The place looked absolutely amazing in the dark. The spurting fountains had lights underneath them, illuminating them with a color between pink and lavender. I stopped and stared at it, not really able to look away. It was beautiful! I heard Vanitas's footfalls come to a halt a couple of seconds after mine. Wait a minute…it was the one man from the cottage who had told me about this place! No wonder he had said that it was so wonderful.

I heard Vanitas slowly backtrack so that he stood a couple of feet away from me.

"Heh, it is sort of pretty, isn't it," Vanitas muttered.

"Yeah," I agreed quietly.

"Come on," Vanitas spoke again. "We should head over to a hotel."

"Okay, yeah," I said, turning away from the fountains. "Sorry."

With that we continued until we came across a hotel. Vanitas stepped inside and walked over to the counter.

"Two rooms," Vanitas said, pulling out a pouch from his pocket.

I stepped back to glance around. I had never been to one of these before; it was quite nice.

"Come on," Vanitas said, moving towards some stairs. "They're up this way."

I turned around and followed him up the stairs. There was a short hall above. Vanitas strode towards a couple of doors near the end.

"Here's yours," he said, handing me a key and gesturing towards one of the doors. "Though you probably could have just as easily unlocked the door with your Keyblade."

I walked over to the door and pulled it open. However, I turned to face Vanitas before stepping inside.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" I asked.

Vanitas sighed, leaning against his doorframe. "I don't know."

"We could go back to Twilight Town and look around there, if you think it could be there?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Honestly Xion, at the moment I think it could be practically anywhere," Vanitas replied, wildly running his fingers through his hair. "So, sure, we'll try there next."

"Okay," I said. "Good-night."

"…Night," Vanitas responded before turning around and heading into his room.

I then turned into mine, shutting the door behind me. The room was fairly nice, though not quite as nice as the one Master Xehanort had given me. This room was much plainer, with no bookshelf, nor any nice curtains.

I walked over to the bed and sat down, placing my head in my hands. Was I really doing the right thing?


	9. Proposition

Authors Note: This chapter was fun to write. I hope everyone likes it! Please review :D

Thanks for Beta'ing it Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Nine: Proposition

Well, this world was a bit larger then I had expected. It looked as though we had only covered a short distance in the hour and a half that we'd been out. And as long as we'd been out, we, sadly, hadn't found anything that was very interesting.

But now it looked as though we might have _finally_, _maybe_ come across something! Before us stood a different cottage, one not too far from David's. Did someone beside the scientist's brother live here?

A slight frown furrowed the brows of the steel-haired Cloaked Schemer. "Should we see who lives in this cottage?" Ienzo asked, thoughtfully observing the small structure. "Or should we perhaps continue on?"

"Hmm…" I said, crossing my arms while I debated it. "We might as well check. Who knows, they might even know something about Kairi."

"That's true," Riku said somewhat doubtfully. "Let's go see."

The cottage that now stood before us appeared smaller then David's. It was backed up against a large slope with no trees anywhere in sight.

Riku paused briefly at the door before reaching out a hand and knocking upon it. We stood there, waiting for minutes on end for someone to come and answer it. After no one came, Lea shrugged and we all turned and started to walk away. Just as we stepped off the front steps, however, the door opened.

An aged man stood there, staring at us curiously. He wore glasses, had hair that was almost as white as snow, and stood slightly hunched over while leaning upon a walking stick.

No one spoke for several moments. I guess we were not quite sure on what to say, or who should speak first. I finally decided to break the silence.

"Hi!" I greeted, grinning broadly. "I'm Sora! We, uh…all just wanted to ask you a few things."

The man removed his glasses and studied me for a moment. I shuffled my feet, unsure of what else to say. The man probably didn't know anything about Kairi anyway; he most likely hadn't even _heard_ of her.

"Do you live here?" Ienzo asked, breaking up the silence.

"…Yes," the man answered slowly, a slight frown creasing his already wrinkled face. "But I don't think any of you do."

"Yeah, you're kinda right there," Lea said, scratching the back of his head. "We're from a loooong way away from here!"

"I see," the man answered, a faint smile finally stretching the corners of his mouth. "Perhaps you had all better come inside."

"Thank you," Ienzo said, smiling in return.

The man stepped back, opening the door wider so that we all could step inside. The cottage was slightly more rundown then David's, or at least that was my first impression, it could've just been the lack of color.

The man strode over to a chair near the middle of the room and sat down.

"Please, have a seat," he offered, gesturing around at a couple of other chairs near a table in his kitchen area.

We all looked at each other, but no one made any motion to sit down on any of them. So I decided to walk over to the man and plop down on the floor in front of his chair. I didn't really want to be involved in a fight over a couple of chairs; that would be just plain silly. If they all wanted to, then I'd just let them be.

A second later both Riku and Lea had sat down on the floor near me, Ven and Isa joining us shortly thereafter.

"No, Aqua," I heard Terra mutter under his breath. "_Just take the seat!"_

After that Terra pushed Aqua down in the chair by her shoulders, before coming over to join the rest of us, leaving Ienzo the last chair. Once_ he_ sat down we all turned back to face the cottage owner. I raised an eyebrow as the man, who _had_ looked amused up till that point, began laughing. He fell silent quickly, though, and smiled at me.

"So you're Sora, correct?" he asked. I nodded, and he went on. "Well? What are the rest of your names? I'm Peter."

The rest of my companions introduced themselves, Lea inserting his signature line of "got it memorized?" at the end of his long intro.

"So, what was it you were wanting to ask me?" Peter asked, looking at each of us in turn.

"Well, we were wondering if you had seen a girl. She's a friend of ours, and we think she might've passed through here," I said.

"She has auburn hair, blue eyes, is about his age," Riku said, gesturing towards me. "Have you seen anyone like that?"

The man shook his head. "No, sorry. I actually haven't seen anyone other than the five who came here with me, since, well—since I got here."

"Oh," I muttered quietly. I dropped my gaze to the floor. Perhaps they really hadn't come through this world. That or nobody had seen them, which was a possibility.

"Have you possibly seen an old man, then?" Aqua inquired.

With that, the man once again broke into laughter.

"My dear girl," the man began. "I see several old men every day, myself included."

"We mean a different one that didn't come here with you," Ventus broke in. "He has no hair, is dressed sorta odd, and walks hunched over."

Peter shook his head. "No, I'm afraid I haven't."

"So, you're here with David?" Ienzo clarified. The man nodded in response. "Where was it that you came here from?"

"A world named Radiant Garden," Peter told us.

"Are you a scientist?" Isa asked curiously, tilting his head slightly to one side.

The man smiled. "Yes, I am. I worked with Lord Ansem."

"I thought so," Ienzo said. "I was an apprentice of his at one time. However, I was nowhere near as good as his others."

"Who are his apprentices now?" Peter asked.

"I believe you know of them," Ienzo said. "Their names are Even, Dilan, Braig, Aeleus and myself, Ienzo."

"Yes, you're the only one of them that I don't already know about," Peter told us. He then turned and studied Isa for a moment. "And you and your flame-haired friend over there are two teens from Radiant Garden who have a knack for breaking into castles that are carefully guarded, am I right?"

Lea and Isa glanced at each other, clearly at a loss of what to say to this. Though gauging by the look on their faces, my guess would be that they _had_ indeed broken into the castle at least once.

"Well, about that," Lea began, nervously running his fingers through his hair. "We actually—umm…"

"Won't be doing it again," Isa finished for him, shooting him a slightly agitated glance.

Ienzo slowly rose from his chair. "Well, we really do need to be going. We should be returning to David's house shortly."

Aqua also stood up, walking over to stand beside Ienzo.

"Oh…all right," Peter replied. "I think I'll be coming as well. I need to speak to David, anyway."

We left the cottage and then began heading towards the tiny cottage. The walk back went by entirely uneventful, with no one speaking very much. The sun was barely peaking through parted clouds, offering very little warmth in the dreadfully cold weather. Fresh snow hadn't fallen for quite some time, so at least the pathways weren't all slick and we didn't have to trudge through snow.

Once we got to the door Ienzo pulled it open and stood back, allowing the rest of us to pass through. Everyone did so, Riku and I being the last ones. Several people glanced up upon our arrival. It looked like they were now eating lunch, or perhaps it was still breakfast time, I really wasn't sure.

"Hiya!" Braig greeted, grinning as he held up a sandwich. "You might want to make yourself a sandwich before they're all gone!"

"Yeah, sounds good!" Lea agreed, rubbing his hands together. He and Isa then went over to one of the counters and immediately got to work. Ventus, Terra and Aqua followed and stood waiting behind the other two.

"I wonder where they went…" Riku muttered.

I honestly had no idea. Now, there weren't only many _worlds_ to look through, but many _time periods_ as well. Honestly…she could've been anywhere.

I glanced over at David, who was now speaking with Peter. He had kicked Even out of his seat, which left him standing nearby.

"Do you think they know a way out of here?" I heard Peter ask his fellow scientist softly.

"They do seem to have some ideas," David responded. "Maybe we can all figure something out."

Peter nodded, shifting his walking stick to his other hand and stealing a glance towards the opposite end of the room.

I glanced over towards Riku again. He was no longer standing beside me, and had gone over to join the others by the counter. I decided to walk on over and wait my turn, too. Once Aqua had finally walked away, the two of us began making our own sandwiches. We both ended up making bologna ones, which had always been my favorite. Riku liked them too, but probably not as much me. Then again, there really wasn't a whole lot to choose from out of the food David brought out.

We both stood there and ate, since there really wasn't a whole lot left to sit on. Even the floor was crowded by that point. I didn't remain standing there for long, though, and instead took what I had left of my sandwich to stand over by the table, which was where the vast majority had gathered.

"So, you don't have any immediate course of action?" Peter asked Ienzo as I walked up.

Ienzo sat stirring his probably quite cold tea.

"No," he replied after a moment. "Well, I suppose we could try to open a time portal again…"

"We could probably manage to do it," Even said, his expression thoughtful.

Ienzo nodded, taking a sip of his tea.

"So, we might actually be able to get out of here," Peter said happily. David nodded, his own expression almost equaling Peter's joyful one.

…

An entire day had passed, and no one had come up with any wonderful idea to get us out of this world so far. Not long ago the scientists and Ienzo had gone out to try to find a good place to open a time portal.

David had given us an old chessboard, so now Riku and Terra were playing against each other. It was honestly quite entertaining to watch, as they both were pretty close to tied. Pretty much everyone was watching, probably because there wasn't anything else to do, unless someone wanted to go join the scientists in trying to find a good place to open a time portal. Which, I'll be honest, didn't sound like a whole lot of fun.

I wasn't a very good chess player. Whenever I had played against Riku or Kairi I always lost. The only time that I had actually managed to win was when I had played against Wakka; I had been so happy. Now whenever Riku and _Kairi _played against each other, it was harder to discern the outcome. But usually Riku would come out the victor.

I went back to watching their game. They were still pretty close to tied, but it looked like Riku was slightly in the lead. It was hard to say for sure, though. Chess kind of worked like that.

Right then the front door to the cottage opened and Ienzo stepped in, followed closely by the other three scientists. Even, his brother and Peter all sat down at the table. Ienzo, however, began pacing the cottage, a deep frown upon his face.

He paused beside the bed, his scowl deepening as he gazed along it.

"Why did I not notice it before?" he asked himself.

I looked at him, tilting my head to the side out of confusion. I got the answer to my question almost immediately. Ienzo held out the palm of his hand, a frown upon his face. A few sparks of darkness appeared not far in front of him. He then let out a sigh, and held out his hand again. That time a dark portal appeared.

"I think, we have a way out of here now," Ienzo said, turning back to look at the trio by the table. David and Even both leapt to their feet, and then headed over to Ienzo. Riku glanced up, as did Terra briefly. He then moved one of the chess pieces.

"Check mate," Terra announced, straightening out and stretching.

Riku glanced back at the board, his mouth gaping. "What happened? How did you do that?"

"It was simple, I just…" Terra then broke off. His hand paused over the chessboard, as he shot a glance towards the portal.

"We—We can actually leave now?" David asked incredulously, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes, it does appear so," Ienzo responded, a smile upon his face. "Someone has previously left through this portal. It should take us directly to wherever they went. I'm surprised that I still managed to open it though…I'm no longer a being of nothingness."

"Well, should we go then?" Marluxia asked impatiently.

Ienzo opened his mouth to speak, but David spoke instead.

"Hang on, we can't leave yet," David said. "Let me round up the rest of the people who're here with us. It will only take a second."

Ienzo nodded. "That's fine."

David headed for the door at a run before disappearing out it. Riku then stood up, as did most everyone else, myself included. Maybe we would find Kairi now!

Ventus walked up to me, and stood staring into the depths of the portal.

"I wonder where this one'll lead to…" he asked no one in particular.

"Who knows," I said. "It's only going to take us to a different world though."

"Yeah," Ven agreed. He then glanced over at me and smiled. "Maybe it'll take us to wherever your friend is."

"I hope so," I replied, returning the smile.

True to David's word he didn't take long in returning. With him he brought four other people, most looking a great deal older then himself.

"Okay then, I'll be right there," David said. He then turned around and headed around his house. He carried a bag in his hand; I think he was packing up some of his belongings. Only a few minutes passed before he came back over, his bag slung over his shoulder.

"I'm ready," David told him.

Riku walked up to me, and then we both moved forward to stand beside the slate-haired teen. Ventus went back to join Terra and Aqua.

Ienzo stepped back from the portal. "Sora and Riku, would you care to go through first?"

"Sure," I agreed with a nod, which caused some of my bangs to get in my eyes. I then stepped forward, Riku right behind me, into the portal.

Everyone else joined us shortly thereafter. Ienzo stepped into the front, frowning at several different directions that we could choose to go.

"I think perhaps we should go straight," Ienzo offered, looking over at me.

I shrugged. "Sure."

So, we walked off, down the dark corridor with weird patterns swimming around on the walls and underneath our feet.

We hadn't been walking for too long when Ienzo paused beside a door, one that would lead to some other world. Ienzo then turned back to look between Riku and I.

"Through here seems nice," Ienzo said gesturing back at the opening. "Is that all right?"

I nodded in agreement. All of my companions and I then went through.

I stepped out into a small open area with large cliffs on either side me. Directly in front of us stood another portal, this one of a lighter color than the ones leading to the corridors of darkness.

"That's a time portal," I said, staring deep into it. I glanced at Riku, and then Ienzo. "Should we go through it?"

"I think so," Ienzo responded, frowning ever so slightly. "Would you and Riku like to go first again?"

"Okay," I replied, as I glanced briefly at Riku before proceeding. Riku nodded, and we both stepped in. I shut my eyes, remembering how I usually felt upon going through one of these portals—it was never pleasant.

Once we'd stopped transporting I stumbled out of the portal, determined to remain on my feet this time. I didn't though, and instead fell to my knees.

"I wonder who lives in this castle?" I heard Riku ask from somewhere nearby. "I'm not sure why…but it makes me think of Maleficent. I sure hope she doesn't live here."

I opened my eyes and looked up. Riku was walking towards me, the hard ground crunching under his feet. He held out a hand upon reaching me, which I gladly accepted and sprung to my feet. Just at that moment someone else came through that portal and barreled into me, causing me to fall to the ground once again.

"Sorry!" It was David. He then got up and straightened out.

I stood up as well and stretched. Ugh, he had _really_ hurt my back!

Several others then came through the portal. Two remained standing while Even was on all fours like some strange puppy or something. Ienzo was the last to immerge from the portal and join us.

"Well, do we head towards that castle now?" Lea asked while brushing off his capris.

"I think we should," Ienzo replied, nodding.

Riku continued to stare at the large building before us. "I don't think anyone who would be on our side lives here."

"Me neither," Aqua agreed, her blue eyes holding some concern as she too gazed upon the castle. Her friend, Terra, briefly glanced at Ienzo. He then made his way towards the large building in long, meaningful strides.

"Lets go see," he urged. I followed him and, gauging by all the crunching I heard, it sounded as though everyone else was, too.

It didn't take us long to reach the front of the massive building. I began to make a motion towards the door when Terra halted us abruptly. He glanced around at everyone.

"Are we going through the front door, or the side one?" he asked.

"I'd say the front," Lea said quickly. "Normally people think to go through the side door because no one would suspect it, right? But_ I_ think people do it so often now that someone would automatically suspect it, so it would be a better idea to go through the front one."

"However, Lea, if you use that same logic and turn it around," Ienzo replied smiling. "Then it could be a better idea to go from the side one."

Lea scowled, as he crossed his arms and looked straight ahead at the castle.

"I say we listen to the 'sneaking-into-the-castle' expert," Peter said, a teasing glint in his eye.

Lea shot him a sideways glance until he realized that Peter was only joking and his scowl deepened.

"We'll go in from the side," Ienzo said, his expression becoming unreadable.

"No, don't you think we should go in from the front?" Braig countered quickly. "I mean—Lea did have a point!"

Ienzo glanced at Braig and frowned. "No, I think the side is more advisable."

Braig looked thoroughly unhappy, but I couldn't guess why. Ienzo seemed to think we had ended the debate and trailed off along the side of the building.

"I really do think Lea had a point Ienzo, don't you?" Braig asked, running to catch up to him. He then began walking backwards right in front of the steel-haired teen.

Ienzo came to a halt. For once he looked slightly angry.

"No Braig, I don't think so," Ienzo said with a glare. "I think that we all should go through the side door…unless of course you know of a particular reason that we shouldn't?"

"Eh, no…I just thought, that…" Braig trailed off, as Ienzo walked around him towards the door once more.

Was something funny going on? Why was Braig so desperate to go through the front, and Ienzo so adamant that we didn't? Oh well; he probably just decided that he wanted to be difficult.

We stepped into a dark corridor. I really couldn't make much of anything out. I could barely make out the outline of Riku beside me, and at times I found myself following the sounds of their footsteps rather than their actual figures. We moved down a small hall that stood before us, and then turned into another equally dark corridor with small steps leading down.

After my companions and I had been walking for quite sometime, we turned through a door and stepped into somewhere I literally couldn't make anything out. It seemed like some sort of really large room…

I squinted into the darkness. It looked like there was some sort of barred room right in front of me. I frowned as I tried harder to make out the insides. Wait a sec! We were down in a dungeon area!

"Okay, so…" I heard Lea say, only I couldn't make him out to be sure, though. "Do we just turn around and go back up?"

"No," Ienzo said. "Let's look around in here first."

That being said, we began walking around the dark prison cells. I had no idea who was in the lead, but Ienzo's voice had come from in front of me.

"Who's there?"

I jumped. Who'd said that? It wasn't anyone one of us… Wait…could it be?

"Kairi?" I asked excitedly. Which direction had she come from? I wasn't positive, but it had sounded like Kairi.

"Sora? Is that you?" I heard her ask again. I quickly walked in the direction of her voice.

"Yep! Riku's here, too," I replied.

I found her, finally, in one of the last prison cells I searched. A little bit of light was streaming into her cell, so I could make out her form ever so slightly.

Riku walked up. "Kairi! Are you okay?"

The redhead moved towards us, wrapping one of her slim, pallid hands around a cold iron bar. "Yeah, I'm fine," Kairi assured us.

"Hang on a sec, we'll get you out of there," Riku said. He then bent down and began looking for the lock to her cell.

I bent down as well to help him look. We found it, and I pulled out my Keyblade. Riku stepped back out of my way as I pointed it at the lock.

"Don't!" Kairi said quickly.

What was she talking about? The Keyblade looked like it was opening the lock—wait…no, it didn't.

I was thrown off of my feet and back into the wall behind me. I hit the wall with sheer force, and stayed there briefly before I fell back to the cold, hard floor below me. I remained on the floor for a moment stunned, then I slowly got to my feet.

"Sora? You okay?" Riku asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

To be honest, I was slightly shaken up, though no real damage had come to me. "Y—yeah, I'm fine."

I went back to stand beside Riku once again. I frowned. How were we supposed to get her out? It's not like we had the key to her cell.

"Let me see it."

Terra walked up to us and bent down to look at the lock.

I stepped back to watch him. He pulled a regular key out of his pocket and began fiddling with the lock. A few minutes later he managed to slide the door open.

"How'd you do that?" I asked curiously.

"My master taught me how," Terra explained, pocketing his key. "I'll show you some other time."

"All right then, perhaps we should leave," Ienzo suggested. "We have Kairi now. Xehanort is most likely nearby."

"Good idea," Riku agreed.

I looked over at Kairi and grinned, throwing my hands back behind my head.

"I'm glad you're okay," I said. For some reason I was drawing a blank on what to say, that being the only thing I could think of. "I…uh, was worried."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "Did Xehanort hurt you somehow?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Thanks for coming to find me! I just hope we can get out of here alright. Xehanort wanted to use you both for something."

I frowned; he had said that. But if he had wanted to, then…why wasn't he there trying to catch us?

"Come on, let's go," Terra said, walking towards the stairs we had come from.

The three of us (Riku, Kairi and I) began to walk back the way we had come, trailing after Terra as I couldn't really make out much else in there, even with my eyes used to the dark. We walked back along the corridors, and then made our way to the side door. I came to halt. Something suddenly dawned on me—

"Hey, do you think Xehanort's the one destroying the worlds?" I asked.

Everyone else came to a halt in front of me, most turning around to face me.

"It would make sense," Riku said after a moment, his turquoise eyes thoughtful.

Ienzo strolled to the door and pulled it open. "Perhaps, though I don't think we should try attacking him just yet."

"Why not?" I asked curiously. "I mean, there's only one of him against all of us!"

"Well…" Ienzo fell silent, completely lost for words, which was unusual for him. When he started a sentence he almost always ended it.

Someone grabbed my arm and yanked me backwards.

I glanced up in alarm. Xehanort! The old man had found us! He kept a hold of my upper arm as he jerked me back one more time before flinging me forward. I gasped, stumbling forward into Kairi. Once I had regained my footing I glanced back at Xehanort.

I was about to say something, but then a voice other than my own came out.

"Master Xehanort? What are you doing?" I heard Terra demand from somewhere not too far in front of me.

Xehanort glanced at him, his mouth quirking into a twisted smile.

"Why hello there, Terra!" he greeted. "I'm quite relived to be seeing you here. You see, I'm in need of some help, and perhaps you can help me convince Sora and Riku here that I am not a bad person."

Terra remained silent. I couldn't see him, but I was curious as to what his expression was.

"Master! Why are you doing this?" It was Aqua, and she didn't sound like she really believed him.

"Well, Aqua, I'm trying to do something good," Xehanort explained. "You, as a Keyblade wielder, must know that all the worlds were once together as one. I'm only trying to obtain that once again. I have a plan, one that may require a bit of assistance. Please Terra, Aqua, Riku, and …most especially, Sora: help me obtain this goal!"

I stared at him. If he was anything like Xemnas, then somewhere mixed in all that was getting Kingdom Hearts. Which meant that there was no _way_ I was going to help him!

"How would you go about doing this?" Terra demanded.

"I have a few ideas, which I am willing to discuss with all of you," Xehanort said. "So, Terra, Sora? What'll it be? Will you help me towards this wonderful goal?"

I studied the ground for a moment, waiting to see if Terra was going to say anything. When he failed to respond right away, I looked up into Xehanort's wrinkled, aged face, which had gone through a dark portal too many.

"No way! You aren't doing this to help anyone but yourself!" I yelled, glaring at him.

"Heh, did you honestly think we would fall for that?" Riku asked.

"Terra?" Xehanort asked, a scowl upon his face as he glanced past Riku and I to the brunet. "Will you help me?"

"I—" Terra began. I stood on tiptoe to try and see him amidst all the people. He was staring at the floor, his hands clenched tightly along his sides.

"Terra! Don't be fooled!" Aqua said, moving to stand in front of him. "Our Master had known that he might not be on our side any longer. You can't trust him!"

Terra finally glanced up, looking at Xehanort. "No, I—I don't know quite what you're after, but you're acting awfully strange…Master."

"I see… Is this your final answer, then? Sora? Terra?" Xehanort asked, now looked thoroughly displeased.

"We're not going to help you!" I told him.

"All right, then. I see you all just need some more time to think about it," Xehanort said. He then looked at Ienzo, his scowl deepening. "I see you are doing well Ienzo. You are helping Sora… I simply must ask you: why?"

However, he didn't seem to really expect a reply. For next thing I knew he was in front of me, seeming to have used some manner of teleportation.

"Good-bye, I trust I will be seeing you all again quite soon," Xehanort said, his twisted smile returning. He then opened a dark corridor—or was that one leading to the Lanes Between? I wasn't sure anymore.

"Hey!" Riku yelled suddenly. I briefly wondered why, but then I realized Xehanort had a hold of Kairi again!

"No! Let her go!" I yelled, pulling out my Keyblade and charging him without a moment's delay. He was _not_ going to have Kairi again!

Xehanort lifted his Keyblade, bringing it up to clash with mine. I kept going at him, determined to get to Kairi this time. A moment later I noticed Riku beside me; he was going to help. Yet somehow even with the two of us Xehanort was able to deflect us.

I brought my Keyblade up once again to try and get at him from a new angle. I found myself being knocked back into a wall and, much like last time, Riku had been thrown back beside me. In front of us Xehanort opened a portal, still keeping a tight grip on Kairi's arm.

"Well, I think I'll be going now," Xehanort said. "You all just need some time to think about things a little longer. Farewell, Terra…Sora."


	10. Ice Cream Atop the Clock Tower

Authors Note: Here's chapter ten. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Any reviews are welcome; I'd love to hear what you think :D

Thanks a bunch Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Ten: Ice Cream Atop the Clock Tower

I sat up and yawned. Bright rays of sunlight poured onto my face from an open window beside my bed. For one of the first times in my life I actually had a good dream, one that hadn't been involved with Heartless or memories that weren't my own.

I stretched before crawling across my bed and looking out the window. Outside the sun was rising, with only a few puffy clouds in sight. It was nice to be able to see the sun again. In most places I had stayed you either couldn't see it or it was always dark out. The World that Never Was looked as though it were locked in endless night, whereas in the world that Xehanort lived in, thick clouds and swirling mist made it impossible to see.

Out of all the countless times I had seen a sunset, I had actually never witnessed the _sun rising_. Now I was, though. It looked an awful lot like a sunset, only different somehow. I wondered if Roxas had ever seen one. I was quite sure that Axel had, considering he had all of his memories and had once lived in a different world. "What are they both doing right now?" I wondered. "Are either of them still alive?"

I loved the way that a sunrise or set looked. It was so pretty. Axel had been the one who had told me why a sunset was red, saying that, out of all the colors, red is the one that travels the farthest.

I sat and watched it for quite sometime, basically till it had fully risen. I then leaned over the side of my bed to grab my bag. I opened it and began rummaging through it, wondering which outfit should I wear for the day?

I chose one and put it on, which consisted mostly of a dark marigold. The top was a long shirt, almost long enough to be a dress. With slightly puffy sleeves, the cuffs were gray and tight upon my wrists. Across the front of the shirt were crisscrossing gray straps that stretched from my shoulders to my middle. Another set of straps crisscrossed right below. Wait a sec…

I re-opened the bag and peered inside. All of the outfits that Xehanort picked had those same straps. I wondered if they were supposed to form an X. It did sort of look like it.

Over my hands I wore a pair of gloves of the same shade of yellow. And on my legs I wore leggings to match my shirt and gloves. Lastly, on my feet I had a pair of gray boots, which came to about the same height as my Organization boots.

Sitting on my bed and staring at a blank wall left me to ponder all of the unpleasant thoughts going through my head. After awhile I picked up the bag once more, reaching into its depths to see what else Xehanort had put inside it. Almost immediately I pulled out a hairbrush. I stared at it for a moment, and then decided that I might as well put it to good use. Since my hair was short, it never got very tangled, so I pretty much just needed to brush straight through it once or twice.

I went over and sat by the window again, staring out at the now fairly busy streets. Below I noticed two people who looked oddly familiar. I frowned; one of them was quite young, with steel-colored hair and bangs that fell heavily into his face. The other was a much older person, who was probably at least in his forties. He had long platinum-blond hair of which fell a little ways passed his shoulders.

Had I met them before? I knew for a fact that I had never met a young boy with steel-colored hair…I think I had met a much _older _person with the same shade of hair, though. As for the elder of the two, he was a scientist within the Organization. Let me think…

I know! The boy's name had been Zexion—I think. And as for the other one, he was…Vexen. That's right. They had been in the Organization at the same time as me. Though I couldn't remember them very well, really.

I had made up my mind, I was going to go down and speak to them, even if I didn't really know them and they couldn't remember me in this time period. I was curious to know what they were like before they became Nobodies.

I walked down the hall, pausing briefly to look back at Vanitas's door. It didn't sound like he had gotten up yet, so I continued on my way. I walked down the stairs and then towards the front door, lifting my hand to grab the doorknob.

I looked around, trying to pinpoint where my room had been in relation to the building so I could find the two that I had seen out my window. Figuring that I needed to head left, I began walking around the side of the building. In accordance with the front door's location, they had to be somewhere behind it.

There they were, standing about where I had seen them out my window. It looked like the man could've been scolding the steel-haired boy, since he was speaking fast and animatedly moving his hands about. As I drew closer to them, the boy turned around and looked at me. He studied me silently with an unnerving serene gaze. I smiled at him and continued to walk over. After a moment had passed, the boy returned it. This caused the blond man to scowl and glance back at whoever had interrupted his speech. He met my eye, and his scowl only deepened.

"Hello, can I help you?" the man asked, glaring at me.

I thought about how to answer this for a moment. What had I been intending to say to them? I mean, they obviously didn't remember who I was; this was long before my time, even before the Organization's.

"Umm, I was just…" I trailed off, my gaze falling to the ground. "I—never mind." Upon saying this, I turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait."

I paused, glancing back over my shoulder at the young boy. He had taken a couple of steps towards me.

"You're...not from around here, are you?" the boy asked, looking at me with that same searching gaze which left me with the feeling that he could read my mind. Which obviously wasn't a possibility.

The older man, Vexen, looked at me, his emerald green eyes lighting up.

"Well…no, I'm not," I replied.

"I didn't think so," the boy agreed. "Are you from another world?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but then thought better of it. At this point in time I wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to tell him the truth. I mean, in the Organization I had been strictly informed not to tell anyone that. And, deep within a memory that wasn't mine, I remembered someone else being told that, too.

"Well? Are you, or are you not?" Vexen inquired impatiently.

"Yes, I am," I answered after a moment. I wasn't in the Organization anymore, and they both seemed to know that other worlds existed.

"What is it called?" the boy, Zexion, asked.

I hesitated for a moment. "The World that Never Was."

"It sounds neat," Zexion said, smiling again. "What is it like?"

"Well, it isn't that cool," I began. How could I best describe The World that Never Was? Besides a strange dark place surrounded by tall buildings where you could see a funny shape in the sky called Kingdom Hearts. "There are a lot of really tall buildings, and it's always dark out. You can never see the sun. And there's a different kind of thing in the sky in place of the moon…"

Zexion was looking at me, clearly intrigued. I glanced at the man who stood beside him. I didn't really want to tell them about Kingdom Hearts. I didn't know them very well. But I did know that they had been senior members of the Organization; maybe they would both try to get its power now. I really didn't want to make that happen.

"Your world sounds neat," Zexion told me. "Very different from here. What is your name?"

It couldn't hurt to tell him that. "My name is Xion. And you?"

"Ienzo," he responded.

"It's nice to meet you, Ienzo." I walked up to him and held out a hand. Ienzo smiled, and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, too," he replied. He then glanced back at his guardian. "His name is Even. He takes care of me."

I looked over at Even. So _those_ were their names before they had come to the Organization. They both seemed fairly nice, not necessarily normal, though. Even was glaring around the surrounding area and kept glancing at a watch every couple of seconds. Ienzo had that serious gaze, one that made it hard to look away.

"Well, we really must be going now," Even said, placing a hand on top of the young boy's shoulder and attempting to steer him away. "Come on now, Ienzo."

"Well, I guess I'll see you later, Ienzo," I told him, smiling. "It was really nice meeting you."

"Yes, you too," Ienzo replied, waving back at me. "I hope to see you again."

I watched them walk away, letting out a sigh. What had I really been planning to ask them? They obviously wouldn't know anything about the Organization yet. I let out a sigh. I guess I had just hoped they might've had some answers for me.

"Xion?"

I looked up in surprise as someone put a hand on my shoulder; it was Vanitas. He was very good at sneaking up on people. I had lost track of how many times he had managed to walk up without me even noticing!

Vanitas wore a slightly worried expression on his face.

"You're not still worried about what Eraqus said, are you?" he inquired. "Seriously, that man is up to no good. Don't trust _anything_ he might tell you."

I nodded. "I know."

I glanced up at him, hoping the uncertainty I felt didn't show in my eyes. It must have though, since Vanitas still appeared unsure.

"Alright then, are you hungry?" Vanitas's gaze slid along the other many buildings around the square we were in. "That restaurant over there looks like a decent place to go eat at."

"Umm, a little," I responded. "That sounds good."

We both headed over to the restaurant. It did look like a nice place, at least from the outside.

Vanitas pulled open the door. I let out a gasp in surprise; the place was cram-packed with all kinds of people! An explosion of noise had hit us once he'd opened the door. Vanitas slowly stepped in and I followed, not wanting to lose sight of him.

I was being jostled from every direction. I wanted to bring my hands up to my ears in order to block out some of the noise, but then thought better of it.

I tugged on Vanitas's sleeve, doubting that he would be able to hear me even if I yelled.

He turned to look at me. "What is it?"

"Should we go somewhere else?" I hollered. There was probably no way that we could get a seat in there. Was everyone at this particular restaurant right now? I mean, that would be crazy, but it seemed like it.

Vanitas nodded, and we both began backtracking to the door. Just as we _finally_ reached it, however, a loud trumpet sounded. This time I really did cover my ears; it was all just too loud!

Vanitas spun in a circle and glared at the many people now pushing to get past us to the door.

"What is going on?" Vanitas demanded, addressing the room at large.

An elderly man paused and smiled at him. "Don't you already know?"

"No, I don't! Would you kindly like to tell me?" Vanitas went on, clearly unhappy.

"Today's Lord Ansem's birthday!" the man exclaimed. "There's going to be a large parade! And a party at the palace, which most anyone is allowed to attend. I'm sure you both would be permitted. It's going to be a wonderful day! You two be sure to enjoy yourselves now!"

With that the man left, shutting the door behind him.

Now that most everyone was gone, the room was much more silent. The last of the people pushed their way out the door.

Beside me I heard Vanitas let out a groan. He was standing with a hand over his face.

"Why did I choose to come to this day in time?" Vanitas asked himself. "Now we're not going to be able to find a quiet place to leave this world until later!"

"Oh," I muttered quietly. Then an idea struck me. "Hey, Vanitas? They're having a party at their king's palace right?"

Vanitas nodded, a look of dawning lighting his face. "So, we should go and check out this 'Lord Ansem's' palace then?"

With that, we left the building and began making our way through the crowded streets. When we rounded a corner and were just about to walk through another street, a parade began moving right in front of us. My companion and I both halted and watched its slow procession through the wide street before us.

It was fun to watch, and many people around us were laughing and pointing at different parts of it as it passed. They laughed especially hard at a clown doing silly things. One made me crack a grin as well.

After the parade had passed, Vanitas and I continued on our way. We walked for quite some ways before Vanitas came to a halt again, not to far from a concession stand.

"Ah, some food! Are you still hungry?" Vanitas asked me. I nodded as we walked up to it.

We both bought some food and chocolate milkshakes. The milkshake was delicious; almost as good as sea-salt ice cream! Vanitas walked over to a bench, where we sat down and watched the parade make its way down a street nearby.

I took a sip of my milkshake, and then glanced at my companion. "When do you think the party at the castle starts?"

"No idea," Vanitas responded, also watching the parade. "Probably sometime in the late afternoon would be my guess."

I nodded. That was kind of what I had figured as well. But was there really any chance that our book would even be in this world? But then in the back of my mind I didn't even want to find it anymore.

…

I held my breath as Vanitas and I walked up to Ansem's castle. For some reason I was nervous to step inside. I wasn't even sure why. I just didn't like the sound of the name Ansem; it made me think of a Heartless. I shook my head to clear it. That didn't make any sense at all.

"Let's go," Vanitas said, striding towards the double doors of the castle.

I followed him and we both stepped inside. Before us was a long hall, lit with several chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling.

Happy chatter filled the hall we were in as Vanitas and I began walking down it.

"Xion?"

I turned around to see who had said my name. I smiled once I had found the source.

"Hi, Ienzo," I said, watching the steel-haired boy as he approached. "Did you have much fun at the festival?"

Ienzo shrugged his shoulders. "Kind of."

Vanitas walked up and looked at Ienzo. "Who is this kid?"

"My name's Ienzo," he told Vanitas, a slight frown furrowing his eyebrows. "Who are you?"

"Vanitas," he responded. "Come on, Xion, let's go."

"Oh, okay. Good-bye, Ienzo," I said to the young boy as we both walked away. I paused before I'd moved even ten paces. "Hey wait, do you know if Lord Ansem keeps any really old, strange books here?"

"Quite a few," Ienzo responded, a slightly funny expression upon his face. "Do you need one?"

I nodded. "Yes, we've lost one."

"Lord Ansem might let you look through his library," Ienzo told me, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"Hmph, you seem to know this king well," Vanitas muttered quietly.

"Yes, he helps Professor Even watch over me sometimes," Ienzo explained.

"Thanks, kid," Vanitas said. He then turned and began walking away once again. I followed him, smiling back at Ienzo.

We walked off and around another corridor. I let Vanitas lead, since I didn't know which way we should look first. Vanitas paused in front of a small door and pulled it open. From there we walked up some stairs.

Upon reaching the top we stepped through another doorway leading into a long hall. Vanitas then began randomly opening doors, poking his head into each one to see if it held what he was looking for. Finally we stepped into an enormous room, with a large canopy bed and bay windows with thick silk curtains held back with a matching band. I began to feel a little uneasy; was this the king's room? I didn't want to trespass through his personal belongings.

I glanced over at Vanitas as he strode over to a few large bookshelves on the far side of the room. As expected, my companion began pulling out books one by one. At least he didn't dump them all out, though. Letting out a resigned sigh, I walked over and began helping him.

…

I plopped down in a chair next to one of the shelves with all the books. It didn't look like our book was there. Vanitas and I had successfully accomplished looking through all the shelves, but the book we sought was not among them. I watched as Vanitas placed the last book he had been looking through back on its shelf. He then stepped back, raising a hand to his chin. He looked a bit frustrated, and I couldn't blame him; I was a bit frustrated myself. Now I knew what Axel had meant about trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I brought my knees up under my chin and sat rocking back and forth, waiting to see what Vanitas planed to do next. As I watched him, I noticed someone poke their head into the room. The man looked to be middle-aged. He had long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and he was wearing a deep scowl. Uh oh, that couldn't be good.

"What are you doing in here?" he demanded, stepping in and brandishing a spear at us. From behind him I noticed another man walk in, this one had short hair of a reddish brown color. I recognized them as two members of Organization XIII.

I went over to stand beside Vanitas as he pulled out his Keyblade. I chose not to do the same, however, as I wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to fight when we were trespassing on someone else's property.

"What do we have here?" the man asked again, glaring at Vanitas. "Trespassers? Within Lord Ansem's room?"

"Well we—" I began, but Vanitas cut me off.

"No one told us that we shouldn't go in here!" Vanitas yelled, directing his Keyblade at the man.

The other man scowled and pointed at the door. "It says so on the door."

I glanced at it, not sure what to say. "We didn't take anything… We—we were just looking."

"Either way, you're leaving…right now." The man with ebony-colored hair strode forward, gripping me by the upper arm and dragging me forcibly to the door.

"You let go of her!" Vanitas yelled, making a motion to attack him. However, before he could do so, the other man twirled his spear in the air so that it wouldn't do any permanent damage to Vanitas, and brought it down hard over my companion's head.

I winced as Vanitas let out a soft moan and fell to the ground, his Keyblade first clanking to the floor before disappearing beside him. That looked like it had hurt.

"Would you like to come quietly, miss?" the man with the black hair asked, a twisted smile planted upon his face. Xaldin, I think his name was. "Or shall I have to do the same to you?"

"I'll come," I replied quickly. There was no point in having them drag me from the room.

We descended the castle and left out of the large double doors. The taller of the two men, the one with reddish brown hair, had Vanitas slung over his shoulder. We continued down the vacant streets until a bench loomed into view. Vanitas was put down roughly upon the hard seat. Then the other man released my arm. They both stepped back, both glaring daggers at me.

"Be sure we don't see you around the castle again," Xaldin (or at least I think that's his name) told me.

I nodded quickly. "Don't worry, we won't go back there. I promise."

Xaldin nodded, taking my word for it. He and the other person turned and began walking away.

I watched them until they were gone from sight. I let out a sigh and plopped down on the bench by Vanitas's feet. Going into their king's room had certainly been a good idea.

I looked at Vanitas, who was still knocked out cold. I would just wait for him to wake up and see where he thought we should go next.

"Well, it appears as though you are both having quite a hard time."

I jumped in surprise and looked over my shoulder. "Master Xehanort! What are you doing here?"

Xehanort walked around the bench, glancing briefly at Vanitas as he went. Once in front of me, he let out an exhausted sigh.

"Well, I had to make a rather quick exit," Master Xehanort told me, as Vanitas let out a soft moan, rubbing his head. "Why hello, Vanitas."

Vanitas looked around in confusion. "Master Xehanort? What? Oh…"

"As I was saying," Xehanort continued. "I was found by our enemies, so I had to take Kairi and leave."

"As in Eraqus?" I asked. I was still wondering if Eraqus had been right about Xehanort. The old Keyblade Master was acting a little fishy.

The elderly Keyblade Master turned around to look at me, his eyebrows furrowing suspiciously. "Ah, so you've met Eraqus."

Vanitas stood up. "Yeah, he was trying to cause trouble, as always."

"I see…" Xehanort turned back around, folding his hands behind his back. "That man just doesn't understand what it is we're trying to do! I wish he would… There was a time when he and I were quite close. Almost like brothers, you might say!"

Vanitas walked past his master and stood there, his arms crossed with his back to us.

"So, where is it you two have gone?" Vanitas inquired, without turning around.

"We are staying in your time era, Vanitas. In the Enchanted Dominion." Xehanort informed us. "I trust you have not found the book yet?"

I shook my head. I wasn't sure if we were ever going to find it at this rate, though I didn't say so.

"Well, good luck," Xehanort said. He began to walk away, back in the direction he had come. "I hope you find it soon…before others do."

A moment later he had gone through a portal, leaving no trace that he had been there.

I glanced at Vanitas, who hadn't moved. It was getting late. Even though I had no idea where the book was, there _was_ one place that I wanted to go to. I stood up and walked over to Vanitas. He turned to face me.

"Well? Where do you think we should try next?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Let's go back to Twilight Town," I suggested. Had Vanitas ever had sea-salt ice cream before? I somewhat doubted it.

"Fine," Vanitas agreed, opening up a portal. I threw my coat over my outfit, leaving my black gloves and boots off, though. I was already wearing a pair of each, but I wanted _some _protection from the darkness. We both stepped into the portal; back into those confusing dark passages.

…

We stepped out into Twilight Town. For once the sky in this world resembled all those from other worlds, because the sun was going down in all of them. I glanced towards the clock tower, then back over at Vanitas. I was slightly uncertain about asking what I was about to.

"Hey, Vanitas?" I began. "Do you want to eat some ice cream?"

"Huh?" he asked, looking somewhat surprised. "I—I guess…"

"Okay!" Without waiting for him to say anything else I ran off, towards the place they sold sea-salt ice cream.

I quickly bought two bars before dashing back to where I had left Vanitas standing. He was still there, except his back was to me now as he watched the setting sun.

"Here," I said holding the ice cream out to him, which he took. "Let's go to the top of the clock tower."

He glanced towards the top, again looking surprised. "Oh…alright."

I walked off towards the building; upon reaching it I pulled the door open, we then walked up the many flights of stairs to get to the top.

At last I pulled the door open, allowing Vanitas to step through. Stepping over to the edge, I sat down. It was the same place that Roxas, Axel and I always ate our ice cream.

Vanitas slowly sat down beside me, taking the wrapper off of his ice cream as he did so. I did the same and then took a bite.

"Have you had ice cream up here before?" Vanitas inquired curiously.

"Yeah, I used to come up here with my best friends," I told him. I smiled. "Roxas told me that's what friends do—they have ice cream together."

Vanitas looked down at his ice cream, wearing a very serious expression as he slowly took a bite of it.

"…Does that mean—we're friends?" he asked after a moment, staring at his ice cream as though he could see through it.

I watched him for a moment before smiling. "Yeah, I think so."

Vanitas looked up, and our eyes met. He smiled as well, a real true smile. That was the first time I had really seen a genuine smile coming from him.

"I—I've never actually had a friend before," he said after a moment. A saddened expression darkened his face.

"Really?" I asked in surprise. He nodded. "I'm sorry."

I looked at him, tilting my head to one side. I couldn't quite imagine never having any friends, nor could I imagine how lonely that would make someone feel.

"Thanks, Xion," he said after a moment of silence, "for being my friend."

As I watched Vanitas sitting there and eating his ice cream, I felt happy; he really wasn't so bad. I actually enjoyed his company. Now I realized that I really did think of him as a friend, and that made me happy. And from the looks of it, it made Vanitas pretty happy as well.

"You're welcome."


	11. Trust Me

Author's Note: Yea! I got some reviews! Thank you everyone! Keep it coming people and I might update sooner ;P

Thanks so much Mystics Apprentice :)

Chapter Eleven: Trust Me

I stumbled out of a pearly white portal once again. The ground swam in front of my eyes, which prevented me from being able to focus.

Those time portals were the most annoying things I had ever stepped foot in. I literally couldn't keep my balance after being inside one of them! So, I found myself again on my knees, waiting for my dizziness to pass. At the moment I honestly thought that if I had to go through _one_ more of them I was likely going to pull my hair out…

Well, not literally.

But, despite how much I hated the portals, we had to leave that time period. There was no point in staying in the future time era where Xehanort was, and all the scientists that had lived in the future had been quite eager to leave as well. So here we all were, in Radiant Garden, in who knew what time period. It couldn't be far in the future, though, if all the worlds really were being destroyed. Everything around us was in nice shape. Maybe we were in some point in the past? That would probably make the most sense. In my own time, Leon and his friends were still rebuilding it. So it wasn't in the best of shapes yet.

Grumbling under my breath, I stood up, and stared around the square we were in. Radiant Garden looked pretty nice when it was fully restored. Kairi would've loved it.

I glanced back over my shoulder as Riku came through the portal behind me. It was _his_ turn to stumble onto the stone-paved walk! I quickly jumped back out of the way, remembering what had happened the last time I had stood still after going through one of those portals. I had been knocked flat! And that had hurt! Somehow or another, though, Riku remained on his feet. I'm not sure how he did it, I kept trying to every time we went through a portal, and so far hadn't managed.

Scowling, I turned back around, waiting for everyone else to join us. I still couldn't believe that we had lost Kairi again. I was really beginning to wonder if helping Xehanort would be the only way to get her back. Which obviously wasn't an option. There _had_ to be another way. Probably if everyone had jumped on Xehanort at the same time we could've won against him.

I turned back around to face my companions as the last of them came through. The time portals seemed to affect some people worse than others, and those that faired better just didn't make any sense. I mean, Even, Ienzo, Riku, Aqua and myself were affected the worst, whereas Peter and his fellow scientists were hardly put down at all. I shook my head, puzzled.

"So! What are we doing now?" Even inquired crossly, eyeing Ienzo, as though he expected the teen to come up with a magic idea.

The steel-haired Clocked Schemer stood with his arms crossed, gazing out at the street. He seemed to be thinking hard. I had no good suggestion myself, besides hunting down Xehanort, stopping him from destroying the worlds, and getting Kairi back. But at the moment I didn't think that any of those suggestions would help, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Hey, Isa?" Lea began, pacing forward a few steps, and addressing his blue-haired friend. "Isn't this _our_ home world?"

Isa frowned. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is."

"Goody! Then let's go get some ice cream!" Lea exclaimed, grinning at the rest of us. "Everyone here like sea-salt ice cream?"

"Sure, let's—" I paused, frowning thoughtfully. I then shook my head to clear it. I'd never had any ice cream that was called that before…had I?

"That's great! Just great!" Even cried, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Let us all just go flouncing off! Eating ice cream! Yes, that'll solve all of our problems!"

"Well then, what do you suggest we do, Even?" Ienzo asked the scientist; the slight edge to his tone suggested he was becoming impatient with the platinum-blond.

The scientist frowned, glaring at the street. "Well… _I'm _going home."

"Oh, come on, Even," his brother pleaded. "Don't be such a party pooper."

"I just…oh, alright." Letting out a faint sigh, the scientist turned around to face all of us again.

So, with that settled, we all followed Lea and Isa down the streets. The only people who weren't coming with us were Peter and his fellow scientists, except for David. I didn't know what the other scientists' names were, so I was just referring to them as 'the other scientists,' since it was the easiest to remember. They had all wanted to locate their homes.

We ended up in front of a small stand where a familiar short figure stood selling sea-salt ice cream. I grinned upon recognizing him.

"Hiya, Scrooge McDuck," I said bending down so that he and I were about eye level with each other.

"Why hello there, wouldja like some ice cream?" the duck asked me, smiling.

Ugh, I thought, feeling my shoulders sag. He didn't remember me. But we couldn't be too far from my time if Scrooge was around.

…

At the moment we were all walking down a random street eating ice cream. A few people hadn't gotten any, though, such as Xaldin and Marluxia. Even had grumbled a ton, but in the end he too had gotten a stick of the ice cream that was between sweet and salty.

It was really good. But it tasted familiar, though I never remembered having any before. Had Roxas had it? That would be the only thing that could make sense.

Once everyone had finished their ice creams, we all paused in our meaningless walking. As Even and Ienzo began discussing things, I went over and sat down on a bench beside the Organization's number IX. He had pulled out his sitar and was strumming on it absentmindedly while he stared into space.

"Hi, Sora," he said, grinning at me as I sat down as well.

"Hi," I replied, returning the smile with a bit less enthusiasm.

While Demyx continued strumming away at his sitar, most of the others discussed what time period we were in. I sat watching the other side of the street. Many people kept coming and going on it. While a woman bustled three children into a large building, I noticed another man begin working his way along the street. At first I didn't think anything of it, but when I gave him a second glance my eyes widened in surprise. Was that…Merlin?

I stood up quickly and walked across the street, to see if it truly was him.

It was.

"Merlin!" I exclaimed, running over the elderly wizard. "What are you doing here? Do you remember me?"

The man turned his gaze onto me and frowned. "No, I can't say that I do. What is your name?"

"Sora," I muttered grumpily. Darn, if he had known who I was, he could've been a _huge_ help.

"It is nice to meet you, Sora, but now I need to be going." Merlin turned back around and began walking away. I watched him round the corner, before I then ran to catch up with him. He didn't know who _I_ was, but that didn't mean he couldn't help us.

"Wait! Merlin?" I yelled running up behind him.

"What is it now?" the wizard asked grumpily. He sure seemed to be in a hurry, wherever he was headed.

"I just—" I began, but was cut off by Riku yelling my name from somewhere behind me.

"There you are," Riku said, walking up. Upon noticing Merlin, he stopped and smiled. "Hey, aren't you Merlin?"

Merlin turned his gaze on my silver-haired friend and scowled. "What is it with you two? How do you both know my name?"

"Well," Riku began. His turquoise eyes met mine, as I'm pretty sure we were both wondering the same thing: was it safe to tell Merlin the truth? After a moment I shrugged. So Riku explained.

And guess what? The wizard actually believed us!

"Interesting," Merlin said, briefly rubbing his chin. Then his eyes lit up. "Would you happen to know two teenagers named Xion and Vanitas?"

I frowned, before shaking my head. I had never met anyone under either of those names. But then I glanced at Riku in surprise, as he slowly jerked his head in assent.

"Huh? Riku?" I asked, my eyes wide. He knew them?

"Do you know where they went, Merlin?" Riku asked cautiously, his gaze unreadable. "I—I need to find them."

"No, sorry, young man," Merlin said apologetically.

I frowned at Riku. What did he need to tell them? Would they help us?

"Why, Riku? Do you think they'd help us?" I asked, putting my thoughts into words.

Riku looked down, a funny expression on his face. "I just… There's something I need to tell Xion."

"…Oh." Hmm, what was he up to? I guess I would just have to wait and see.

Suddenly the expression on Riku's face cleared as his eyes lit up. "I think I know where I can find them!"

"Uh… Cool?" I asked uncertainly, tilting my head to the side. "I guess?"

With that, Riku turned around and strode quickly down the street. I guess he was going back to join the rest of the group. I watched him go until he was out of sight. After a moment I ran after him, only to stop at the corner and grin at Merlin.

"Bye, Merlin. I, uh—guess I'll see you later," I yelled back to him, before running around the corner to find Riku and the rest of my traveling companions.

As I walked up I saw Riku speaking to Ienzo. The steel-haired teen frowned and nodded before extending a palm and opening a portal. It was a regular one. Frowning, I ran up.

"Hey, Riku!" I yelled as I drew closer. "Wait!"

Riku turned to face me, his foot an inch from the portal.

"I'll come, too." I went over to stand right beside him. However, as I made a motion to go inside it, Riku placed a hand on my shoulder, halting me mid-step. I looked up at him, surprised.

"Thanks, Sora," Riku said, offering me a bitter smile. "But I need to do this on my own."

"Oh… You sure?" I asked. Riku nodded. "Well, alright. Uh, I'll see you later!"

Riku nodded and left through the portal. I watched him until it closed, and my best friend disappeared from view.

…

Xion had always liked Twilight Town. More often times than not I'd find her there—sitting up on the clock tower, watching the sunset.

I stepped out of the portal, and into the twilit town. I glanced around briefly before heading towards the area of the clock tower.

I'd been here often while working for DiZ, so it didn't take me long to find the right place. Just as I was about to round the corner I heard a pair of voices coming in my direction. I paused and quickly slid behind a building and out of sight. I didn't know anything about this 'Vanitas' person who was supposed to be traveling with her, so I had decided to play it safe. I…just got the feeling that he had something to do with Xehanort.

I watched as someone with jet-black hair passed by me. I couldn't help but grin amusedly; he really did look just like Sora, only with yellow eyes and black hair. It gave him an evil appearance. Hmm, an evil Sora…now that would be freaky.

As Xion began to pass by right in front of me, I tapped her arm before stepping back once again.

Xion jumped and looked around confusedly. Once she had spotted me, her eyes widened in surprise. I motioned for her to come, who only frowned in response. She then turned to face the dark-haired Sora named Vanitas.

"Umm, Vanitas?" she began, catching the attention of her companion. "You go on without me. I—I'll be there in a sec."

"Alright," her companion said, appearing quite befuddled, before walking on.

I waited until he was out of sight, before walking over to her.

"Hi," I greeted, smiling. "It's been awhile."

Xion returned the smile. "Hi, Riku. What are you doing here? How's Sora?"

"Sora's fine." I frowned, seriousness replacing my friendly air. "I came to talk to you."

"About what?" Xion asked curiously, tilting her head to the side, her ebony locks brushing against her neck.

"You're helping Xehanort…right?" I asked. Her eyes widened before she looked away. She _was_ helping him, as I had thought.

"Yes," she told me after a moment.

"Xehanort is Xemnas's Somebody," I said, watching her expression. She nodded. "They both want the same thing. I'm not sure what he's told you, but I _am_ sure that it was a lie. He has a good friend of mine locked up…Kairi."

Xion looked down, uncertainty clouding her gaze. Did she believe me?

"Are you sure that Xehanort isn't wanting something different?" Xion asked after a moment, without glancing my way.

"Yes," I answered. "Xehanort is up to no good. Trust me."

Xion finally glanced up, eyes widened to the size of sand-dollars. For one tense moment our eyes locked, before the small girl nodded in assent. "I trust you, Riku."

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. I couldn't figure out why, but it slightly disturbed me to think of Xion as our written enemy. "Good," I said. "Xion, if you'd want to help us, you'd be welcomed on our side."

Xion looked surprised. "Really?"

I nodded, before stealing a look around, surveying the way the town used to look. It actually was pretty much the same.

"I—I know where Kairi is."

I looked at Xion. It was my turn to be surprised. "You do?"

"Yes." Xion nodded, she was beginning to look more certain of herself. "I saw Xehanort about an hour ago, and he told me what time period he had moved to."

"Where is she?" I asked. "I need to find her."

"How about we go rescue her tomorrow?" she suggested.

I hesitated. "Couldn't we today?"

Xion shook her head. "No… I'm sorry. But I need to speak to Vanitas first… Is that okay?"

I nodded, a hesitant smile curving the edges of my mouth. "Alright, we'll go tomorrow. I'll wait in a hotel, let's meet here after breakfast."

Xion nodded. "Okay."

I turned around and began walking off to go find a hotel.

"Bye, Riku!" Xion called after me. "See you tomorrow."

I waved and continued on my way. There was one hotel nearby that was nice. I had stayed there once while Sora had been taking his long nap to regain his memories.

Hopefully Xion and I would manage to rescue Kairi _without_ running into Xehanort. I paused outside of the hotel and glanced at the setting sun. This quest of ours was pretty complicated. I just hoped that Xion wouldn't change her mind before the next day arrived.


	12. Why?

Authors Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please read and review :)

Thanks for beta'ing it Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Twelve: Why?

I yawned as someone shook my shoulder. Were they also calling my name, or had it been in a dream?

I opened my eyes and looked up. Two yellow-colored eyes were gazing down at me. It was Vanitas. He was standing beside my bed.

I grinned and sat up. "Good morning, Vanitas."

"Hi." Vanitas grinned back and sat at the foot of my bed. _He certainly seem__s__ to be in a good mood today_, I thought to myself.

Yesterday he had been trying to find out why I had stayed behind, and it had taken awhile to get him to stop questioning me. _After_ he had stopped being suspicious, we had a lot of fun together. We'd talked for a while, and then even played a few board games.

I was glad to see that Vanitas was happy, but I was afraid he wouldn't be for much longer. Later, Riku and I would leave and rescue Kairi, and I would no longer be helping Xehanort and my companion. Could we still even be friends? No…we wouldn't be anymore. That made me feel tremendously sad.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

I glanced up in surprise. "Oh…nothing."

He continued to watch me, not looking thoroughly convinced.

"Vanitas, why are you really helping Xehanort?" I finally blurted. "I mean, have you ever questioned his intentions before?" I dropped my gaze to the laminate wood flooring of the hotel. Vanitas's eyes widened, appearing rather taken aback. His expression then became neutral once more as he looked away. He appeared a little uneasy.

"Yes… I have," Vanitas answered. "Many times, actually. I even considered not helping him anymore. But what else can I do? He's the only one who's on my side. And, to tell the truth, since he brought me back from where I was, I haven't cared very much. Plus he promised that he'd set things right for me."

I hadn't expected that answer from him. I was a bit surprised to be hearing him tell the truth. At least I was pretty sure that it was the truth. I mean, why would he say all of that if it weren't?

"Let's go eat," Vanitas said. He stood up suddenly and made a motion towards my door. Upon reaching it, he pulled it open and disappeared from view. He apparently didn't want to have that conversation, but I was really wondering if he might consider helping me now. He would make a great ally. I was pretty sure that if Sora and Riku would let_ me_ help them, then they would easily allow him to. Just so long as Vanitas was polite.

"I'll ask him about joining Sora and his friends while we eat," I decided, as I got up to leave the hotel.

…

Vanitas and I walked silently down the streets of Twilight Town, except it wasn't very twilit at the moment. The sky held dark gray clouds, which threatened to pour rain at any moment. I kept glancing at it thinking that we wouldn't want to be caught in _that_ storm.

My companion seemed to be having similar thoughts, because as it started to sprinkle lightly he turned into the nearest restaurant. While he might've just liked the sound of it, it seemed like a good place to eat at, especially since it was a pancake house. Plus it wasn't very crowded, which was definitely nice.

A waiter came over right away and got us at a table, or, rather, a booth.

Apart from Vanitas and I there was only two other people in there, so we received our drinks rather fast. I had ordered a cappuccino. Yum!

I sipped at it thoughtfully for a while. Vanitas was also silent. I wasn't sure how to ask him to help Sora's party. And, once I did ask, would he agree? I wish I knew for sure.

"So," Vanitas said, glancing at the door where the waiter had disappeared. "It's a lot less crowded then the last restaurant we went into, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I agreed. It certainly was, but then the last one had been busy because it was Ansem's birthday.

Our food came quickly after that. I had ordered a plate of pancakes drowned in boysenberry syrup. They tasted really good! Vanitas had ordered a cheese omelet. I had been torn between getting an omelet or pancakes, as I had never had either of them, but Axel had once told me that pancakes were really good. That and waffles. I had eaten waffles before, so I'd thought to try something different.

When we were about halfway done, I decided to tell him that I was going to leave and help Sora and his companions. As much as I didn't want to, I knew it'd have to be done at some point.

"Vanitas," I began, "how do you know that Xehanort isn't just lying to you?"

Vanitas let out an uneasy sigh. He looked up from his plate and lowered his fork. "He hasn't yet," he told me. "If he does as promised, then it would help him as well."

I absentmindedly stirred more creamer into my cappuccino. "I'm pretty sure that he's lied to me." I told Vanitas. He glanced up at me, looking slightly surprised. "He's really after Kingdom Hearts, isn't he?"

My ebony-haired friend simply stared at me momentarily, before shaking his head fervently.

"No, he's not. Or, at least he doesn't want it for himself," Vanitas told me quickly, shifting uneasily in his chair. "He isn't, like, out to rule the worlds or anything."

"I'm not so sure," I said quietly, staring into what little remained of my drink. "I think that really _is_ what he wants. Or maybe he wants to destroy it. I—I don't want to help him get whatever he's wanting."

I drew in a deep breath. "Vanitas, I can't help Xehanort anymore. I'm going to go join Sora." I hesitated before looking at him. I couldn't quite read the expression on his face. "Would you consider coming with me? I'm sure they would welcome you. And maybe they could even help you."

Vanitas watched me for a moment, his expression unsure, before he let out a dry laugh.

"They wouldn't help me," he said finally, as though I were crazy for even suggesting it. "And I doubt they would let you help _them_. Heck, you probably couldn't even find them."

I slid out of my seat and stood up. I'd already made up my mind: even _if_ Vanitas wasn't going to come, I would still join Sora. I turned around and headed for the door.

…

"Wait, Xion!" I yelled. I quickly slid out of the booth and ran after her through the door. She couldn't just leave, Xehanort would be furious with me.

I flung open the door of the restaurant and dashed outside. Xion was only a short ways away, her back facing me. I quickly strode over to her.

"You can't leave," I said, moving so that I was in front of her, somewhat blocking her path.

"I have to, Vanitas," Xion told me quietly, averting her gaze from mine. "What Xehanort's doing isn't right. Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

I hesitated. On the one hand, I found myself somewhat wanting to. If not only so that Xion and I could be on the same side. She was the only friend I had, and I didn't want to lose her. Wait…what was I thinking? I didn't really want to join Sora, and, even if I did, there was _no way _that he would let me join them. Besides all that, I wasn't even really supposed to have friends, anyway.

"Of course I'm sure," I told her. "You shouldn't either."

"I'm going, Vanitas," Xion told me. I could tell that she had made up her mind. "C—can we still be friends?"

I stared at her blankly as I thought it over. Do friends stay friends even when they're not on the same side? I wasn't sure, but I somewhat doubted it. It would make more sense if we were titled something like "enemies."

"No, we can't," I told her, shaking my head.

She looked a little upset about that, but there was no way we could be friends. Heck, I was pretty sure I was crazy for ever assuming that we _could _in the first place. Xehanort would've laughed at me.

Xion looked up briefly before heading around me towards another street.

I hesitated before following. Should I just let her leave? And she easily could now; I had shown her how to open the time portals the day before. Why had I done that again? Heh, maybe I really was losing it.

I caught up with her as she was heading into the area with the clock tower. I had forgotten what the whole area was called.

I slowed down as heavy raindrops began to fall from the sky. The rainfall had stopped briefly while we were in the restaurant, but apparently not for good.

As I rounded the corner I saw Xion walk over to someone with silver hair. He didn't look old, so I guess that was just the color of his hair. I had never seen him before. Probably one of Sora's cronies. Maybe Xion had talked to him yesterday. That would make sense, because otherwise I wasn't sure what changed her mind all of the sudden.

She opened up a portal and began heading towards it. As the silver-haired teenager left through it, I ran up and grabbed her arm. It'd been only moments before she entered the portal as well.

Xion turned to look at me. She struggled, trying to free herself from my grasp.

"Xion, you _can't_ leave," I told her through gritted teeth. Xehanort would be angry, and, even though I didn't really care if he was happy or not, he could get awfully mean.

"I _am_ going to leave," she told me firmly, as though there was no questioning the matter. I let go and she backed up a couple of steps. "I'm sorry, Vanitas—Good-bye."

I watched her go, the rain now pouring down buckets as some people liked to say. It rolled off my hair and onto the ground.

"Bye," I muttered. Did I feel sad?

...No of course I didn't. But what was I going to do now?

Once the portal had closed, I spun around and headed off. Now I was positive I was crazy. Why? Because I was actually going to go ask Xehanort if he was lying to me. I was also going to ask him what he hoped to accomplish with everything.

…

I stepped out through a portal of time and continued on my way, despite my severe dizziness. The dry ground crunched beneath my feet as I made my way up towards a castle owned by some dark fairy named Malefa-something-or-other. She was on our side, and sounded almost as sour as Master Xehanort.

Though this seemed slightly silly to me, I had felt a lot happier while traveling around with Xion. I actually had fun, for the first time that I could recall. I rather enjoyed being out of Xehanort's presence and with someone a bit more, what was the word, nice perhaps? Or cheerful, or, maybe just being around someone who was actually nice to me. I wasn't sure.

I was somewhat happy that things weren't working out exactly as Xehanort had wanted. Or who knows; maybe they still were. He had a way of setting things up so that they worked exactly as he wanted. It was plain irritating sometimes.

I paused outside of a pair of large doors leading to the castle. I'd stood before them twice before. Once to leave Unversed there for Ventus and his cronies, and the other when Xehanort explained that the fairy who owned it favored the side of darkness.

I reached out and grabbed the handle to one of the doors and gave it an experimental tug. It swung open easily, allowing me entry into the large gloomy castle. It was a dark castle where a dark fairy lived surrounded by dark clouds. I'm not sure why I found humor in this.

Ugh, what was the matter with me?

Inside the castle was dim and rundown. Some of it was literally falling apart, not as badly as The Land of Departure, but still the place wasn't well off. I didn't like it at all. Oh well. I just wouldn't stick around here for very long.

I began heading further up into the castle. Xehanort normally wouldn't reside on the first floor. I guess he just liked to be on the top, whether it be by being leader or literally.

After wandering around for a while I finally heard him from within a room nearby. He was speaking with someone. Maybe I would finally be meeting the famous evil woman who owned this dark old place.

I pulled open the door and went inside. Xehanort was in there, just as I had thought. He looked up at me when I stepped inside. At first he put on one of those weird, sick smiles, but when Xion didn't follow me his face fell back to his usual scowl. The old Keyblade wielder was almost always grumpy. And even though he was my master, I greatly disliked the old man.

"Why hello, Vanitas," Xehanort greeted. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes, actually," I replied glancing briefly at the tall women standing in front of his armchair. She was dressed in dark colors, and also had a deep scowl on her face. Sheesh, grumpy people.

Xehanort frowned, not that he ever stopped; I guess it just became slightly more noticeable.

"What is it?" Xehanort inquired. His expression reflected that he wasn't happy. "Where is your companion?"

"…Gone," I stated matter-of-factly. There was no point in lying, especially since I had been going to say so myself after a moment. "She left. She went to help Sora. She said that she didn't want to help you anymore, seemed under the impression that you were lying to her or something. Smart girl."

Xehanort stared at me, looking slightly shocked. Mostly I just agreed with whatever he said and never questioned it. I glanced sideways at the dark fairy. She had an eyebrow quirked, and a funny expression on her face.

I forced myself to somewhat smile. "You're Malefae right? My name's Vanitas."

I held out a hand to shake hers, which she simply stared at. She looked extremely irritated. I knew I hadn't gotten her name right, but I honestly didn't care.

"It's Maleficent. It's…nice to meet you too, Vanitas," the fairy said smiling a little too nicely to be real, plus I could tell from the look in her eye that she wasn't happy to meet me. _And_ she didn't shake my hand. Again: oh well.

I turned around to face Xehanort again, awaiting to hear what he had to say next.

"You let her?" my master inquired after a moment, looking quite surprised. "Vanitas…this is not good! You know she wasn't supposed to leave. What's gotten into you?"

"I think some sense, actually," I said, irritation creeping its way into my tone. "Can you tell me why _I'm_ even helping you anymore? Do you _ever_ speak the truth, old man?"

Xehanort looked angry. I knew he would be, but I didn't care very much. If the old coot wanted to be mad, then let him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it, glancing back over my shoulder at something. I frowned and glanced over as well. Behind me was an Unversed. Gah, the little creatures were beyond annoying.

I flung my Keyblade into it, wincing as I turned back to look at Xehanort, my gaze hard—he'd better answer me.

"I told you that I would make you whole again," Xehanort told me, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you will be… All in good time."

"Like in ten years?" I asked. I knew he had a new plan to get Kingdom Hearts, and if he didn't need the X-blade any longer there was every chance that Ventus and I might not be whole for the next decade. "I think Xion had the right idea."

"Don't be ridiculous, Vanitas! It'll be much sooner than that," Xehanort told me, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. "Now you need to track down Xion and stop her before she gets to Sora! Tell her I want to speak with her! To explain things."

I stood there, staring at him for a moment, before pulling out my Keyblade again and slamming into the floor right in front of him.

"No! You know what? I won't," I snarled, making my Keyblade disappear. I then turned around and left the room, not waiting to hear what Xehanort had to say to next.


	13. Never

Authors Note: This chapter is actually mostly from Xion's point of view. I hope you all enjoy :) Please read and review!

Thanks for the help Mystics Apprentice :D

Chapter Thirteen: Never

I grumbled under my breath as I made my way towards a clothing shop. I was probably thoroughly annoying my three companions that I had with me. I had been moving very slowly down the street. Why? Because I 'hated' shopping for clothes. Well, hmm…I guess I didn't _hate_ it, I just greatly disliked it. Yeah, my mom would've been happier if I put it that way.

The day after Riku had left, Lea and Ienzo had insisted that I get some different clothes. And after an old man had walked up to me asking if it was pajama day, I had to admit that they were right. That had been just a little too embarrassing. Besides all that, Braig had been threatening to call me PJ. I'm not sure exactly why that bothered me so much, but I _really_ didn't want him to call me that.

So, I was following Lea, Isa and Ienzo to a clothing store that _hopefully_ had some half-decent clothes. If they ended up being anything like the ones from the fourteenth century Traverse Town I was just going to hold out till we got home, no matter what _anyone_ said or did.

I continued to drag my slippered feet along the ground as Ienzo pulled open a door to a somewhat nice-looking shop. Isa followed him. Lea grinned and gestured for me to go in before him. I obeyed.

"Sora, this place has some decent clothes," Ienzo told me, walking up with a matching pair of clothes in his hand. True, it was 'decent,' but it wasn't something that I'd ever consider wearing. I had always liked capris and T-shirts. The outfit Ienzo was holding was neither. It was _far _too fancy. It even had a tie! Ugh.

"Nah, Ienzo. Those are no fun," Lea said. He tore the outfit away from the steel-haired teen. Ienzo looked slightly confused but walked away. "You need something a bit more colorful."

Lea grabbed me by the elbow and began pulling me off towards some clothing racks. I was a bit relieved that Lea was helping me pick something and not Ienzo. Ienzo and I didn't seem to like similar clothing. I was afraid that if I listened to him I would end up walking out of the shop in a suit and tie!

"What about these, Sora?" Isa asked, holding out a turtleneck shirt.

…

Well, that hadn't taken too long…I guess. Only about an hour, which to _me_ was a very long time to be in a store.

My three companions had tried very hard to get me to wear the clothes that they each suggested, but I'd chosen not to listen. Even though Lea also liked to wear capris, he _only_ liked tank-top shirts, and the capris that he preferred weren't like any I had ever worn.

But I liked the outfit I had picked. I had on a pair of blue jeans (they hadn't had any nice capris). They were a decent length; not too short but not too long, either, unlike someone else's that I knew… To go with my jeans I had on a blue striped T-shirt. I didn't much like the clothes in this world, but it was better then wearing pajamas! At least now Braig couldn't pick on me.

"I still think that tank-top was better," Lea muttered under his breath, coming up behind me.

Ienzo sighed, tossing his bangs away from his face with a gloved hand. "Let's just go join our companions again."

"Okay," I agreed. I wondered if Riku would be back yet. He had been gone for almost a day by then. And I was really curious why he had needed to go in the first place. I guess I'd just have to wait and see.

…

I got thrown out of a portal and into something, or more like 'someone.' I groaned and backed up from the person, glancing up as I did so. It was Riku.

Vanitas had been serious when he'd said that you never get used to the time portals. I hadn't yet, and somewhat doubted that I ever would.

"Which way do you think we should go?" Riku asked, his turquoise-colored eyes taking in all of our surroundings.

I frowned, thinking. We could either head back into a grassy area, or head on towards a dark castle. "The castle," I thought to myself. It looked far more promising.

"I think we should go inside there," I told Riku, gesturing towards the castle as I spoke.

Riku nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

I led the way as we began ascending the windy path that led to the castle surrounded in gloom.

I hoped that we wouldn't run into Xehanort. I didn't think Riku and I could defeat him by ourselves, and if Vanitas joined up with him we didn't stand a chance.

We paused outside the large double doors leading within. I drew in a deep breath before pulling them open. Together we slowly made our way into the dark building. Had we come to the wrong place? Because it was dark enough to make me question if anyone could live there. I certainly wouldn't want to. And I had always thought The World that Never Was was gloomy.

As I began to walk off looking for some form of steps that could lead to a dungeon, I heard Riku quietly closing the doors to the building. At least he was_ trying_ to close them quietly; the doors made it pretty impossible. They sounded like they hadn't been oiled in awhile.

I found the whole place officially creepy.

It didn't take Riku and I very long to find the way into the dungeons. My companion seemed to have a good idea on where to find them.

"We shouldn't stay in here long," Riku told me as we trailed down the last few steps and onto the dungeon floor. "I think Maleficent lives here."

"Who's Maleficent?" I inquired, tilting my head curiously to the side. The name sounded familiar.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Riku told me. "Let's just say she's not on our side."

"Okay."

We continued until we reached the darkest, innermost dungeons. I glanced around, but didn't see anything that resembled a prison cell. My eyes finally rested on the wall farthest from us. There was another door. Without a word, Riku headed towards it. I followed, glancing around as I did so.

Now within the next room there were dungeon cells. We began walking around the different ones and looking into them. They all looked dark and uninviting. It was also really cold in the room. Did Xehanort want all of his prisoners to freeze? Or did he just never have any prisoners? I wasn't sure.

"Riku? Is that you?"

I jumped, glancing around to try and find the source of the voice. I finally figured out where it was coming from when Riku hurried over to a cell about seven down from us.

"Kairi!" he exclaimed, looking into the cell and at a figure standing within. "Hang on a sec, I'll get you out of there."

"Is Sora here, too?" I heard Kairi ask excitedly.

"No, he's not," Riku muttered quietly. "We're going to go meet up with him as soon as we get you out of here."

"We?" Kairi asked. I could barely make her out as she looked around Riku at me. "Xion? Is that you?"

I slowly made my way over to stand beside Riku. "Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't try to get you out sooner."

"That's okay," Kairi told me, a faint smile playing against her lips.

It was only a matter of moments before Riku had unlocked her cell. I couldn't tell what he had used, but it wasn't his Keyblade. Maybe he had used some small pick or something.

Kairi stepped out, and Riku swung the cell door closed again.

"Thanks so much for coming to rescue me, Riku...Xion," Kairi told us happily.

"You're welcome," I replied, returning her broad smile. She really did look just like me.

"You didn't honestly think we'd just leave you here, did you?" Riku asked sardonically, but I could tell even in the darkness that he was grinning.

Kairi shook her head and giggled, her bangs falling into her face as she smiled up at her friend. "No, of course not."

With that, we all began to head for the door, which led to the dark hall and the creepy castle beyond.

The three of us didn't speak anymore after that, but instead quietly made our way towards the entrance. That was the thing with dungeons. It was always easy getting in, but it was another story entirely trying to get out.

We weren't too far away from the exit when I stumbled over some rubble, causing me to lag a short ways behind. I regained my balance and straightened. I was about to step over the bits of fallen rubble when someone leaped down right in front of me.

I gasped and fell down. In front of me the person rose to his fullest height and met my eye. He had spiky black hair that resembled Sora's…

"Vanitas!" I said, staring at the teen before me.

He smirked. "Hello…_friend." _The dark-haired teen turned around to face Riku. "So, you think you're just going to take her?"

"Yeah, I do," Riku replied, his gaze hard. He pushed Kairi behind him. "You can't stop me."

"Oh yeah?" Vanitas inquired, pulling out his Keyblade and holding it above his head in his fighting stance. Behind him several little odd creatures popped up. With his creatures following after him, Vanitas charged Riku and the two began to fight.

I watched in horror as their Keyblade's clashed again and again. I couldn't let them fight; one of them could get seriously hurt, at best! And I didn't want to see that happen to either of them.

Kairi had run over to me so that she wasn't in the way of the fight. She too looked close to horrified.

"Vanitas! Riku! Please, don't fight!" I pleaded, only to no avail. They just continued to fight away.

I pulled out my Keyblade, watching them both closely before I leapt in between them. Riku's Keyblade came down hard upon mine, but Vanitas hadn't been doing what I had initially thought he was. Instead he was swinging his Keyblade around from the side. I stood frozen, not seeing any way that I could move in time.

Vanitas's yellow eyes widened and he changed course, swinging past us and falling heavily to the floor. I let out a sigh in relief, feeling my heart pounding hard.

"What did you do that for?" Vanitas demanded as he walked up to us, Keyblade still in hand. "I—I could've hit you."

I made my Keyblade disappear. "Vanitas, I know you said before that you didn't want to join us, but are you really sure?" I asked.

"I will _never_ join Sora," Vanitas told me, glaring at Riku. He then began to lunge at Riku again, but I got in between them again.

"Get out of my way!" Vanitas yelled, trying to get around me.

I shook my head. "No, I won't. Please, just put your Keyblade away, Vanitas."

Vanitas shot me a death glare before lowering his Keyblade and, to my great astonishment, putting it away. He then looked away, his expression becoming more neutral as he turned around, his back now facing both Riku and me.

The silver-haired teen stood looking between Vanitas and I, his Keyblade also lowered.

Vanitas's little creatures turned and began walking off. I wasn't sure what they were. I had never seen them before, but they reminded me a little of the Heartless.

"Why can't you just come back with me, Xion?" Vanitas muttered quietly. "I thought…I thought we were supposed to be friends… If that's what this is, then I'm not sure why I ever wanted one."

I looked away, my bangs falling over my eyes. I really hadn't meant to upset him. I just knew that I should be helping Sora. I guess…I had known that from the time I had first started helping Xehanort.

"Vanitas, I'm sorry," I said, equally quiet. "Xehanort isn't doing the right thing. I wish you would consider joining me."

"I'm not going to," Vanitas told me, his voice hard as he turned around to face me once more. He took a couple of steps backwards.

"Just take them and leave," he said, turning to Riku. He then laughed, only it was more a remorseful kind of laugh than a real one. "You've successfully stolen Xehanort's prisoner…_a__nd_ Xion, my only friend. Congratulations, Riku, I hope you're happy."


	14. No XIV: Xion

Authors Note: Hi everyone! Sorry that it took me awhile to get this chapter up. I hope you all enjoy :) And please read and review!

Thanks for all of the help Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Fourteen: No. XIV: Xion

I threw myself back onto my bed, where I watched the ceiling fan make its rounds. And, unsurprisingly, it had begun to make me feel dizzy.

After we had shopped for clothes, Ienzo and I had gone all over town trying to find out what year we were in. I found it kinda amazing that after asking over fifteen people we still didn't know. It hadn't said on the receipt from the clothing store, and _no one _had wanted to tell us. The most helpful person had asked us if we needed to see a doctor. Most had just shaken their heads and stalked off. Finally Ienzo and I had gotten smart and had come to the conclusion that the people here were officially unhelpful. So far we had figured that we weren't in any one of our time periods. It also wasn't the scientists' time period. But, amazingly, they were fairly content to stay here anyway, wherever _here _may be. But hey, they _were_ scientists, so they all probably just wanted to do a bunch of experiments. Actually, I knew for a fact that Even was doing some sort of experiment. I wasn't sure what it was, but I honestly wasn't that interested to find out.

I sat up, now gazing at a clock on the wall of the hotel room I was staying in. Most people had wanted to leave to another time era (who knew which one), but in the end I had managed to convince them to wait for Riku to get back. I mean, we couldn't just leave without him! How would he find us again?

Where was Riku? I hoped that he would come back soon. All of these Organization XIII members were getting on my nerves. Well, I guess that Lea, Demyx and Ienzo were pretty nice. But the rest, especially Braig, Marluxia, Even and Xaldin (I had recently found out that his name was actually Dilan) weren't.

I leapt to my feet when I heard someone burst through my door. Back at home my mom would have thrown a cow if I had done that.

Lea and Isa stood in the doorway of my room. The redhead had a huge grin on his face.

"Riku's back," Lea told me excitedly. "And he's got your friend with him—uh, Kairi, right?"

I hurried over to him. "He's got Kairi with him?! Why didn't he tell me that he was going to rescue her?"

I practically bulldozed over the two teens on my way out the door. As I continued towards the entrance of the hotel I heard both of them hurrying after me.

"He's got some other girl with him, too," Isa muttered as he walked along beside me.

"Yeah, her name's Xion." Lea chuckled. "She called me Axel."

Isa plodded along, his gaze on the ground. "You know what's funny? Axel is the name 'Lea' with an X."

"Uh, yeah, it is, isn't it?" I said uneasily. I didn't want to get on the topic about them becoming Nobodies again, especially since Lea didn't know yet, so I quickly hurried on.

I stepped out the door of the hotel and glanced around. It didn't take long for me to spot Riku and Kairi. They were speaking with Terra and Aqua just outside the building.

I walked up in time to hear Aqua tell Kairi that she was glad to see her safe.

"Kairi!" I exclaimed, walking over to her. She turned and grinned at me, before hurrying over and giving me a hug. Unsure of what else to do, I clumsily patted her on the back.

Kairi stepped back and smiled. "I'm glad that you're still okay. I was worried about what Xehanort was plotting against you."

I smiled back, before looking over at Riku. He had his arms crossed, but grinned when I caught his eye.

"You didn't tell me that you were going to rescue Kairi!" I said, frowning at my silver-haired friend. "I could've helped!"

Riku looked down. "I just thought it would be easier this way."

I scowled as someone stepped out from behind Riku. It was a girl of about sixteen with short ebony-colored hair. She smiled shyly at me.

"Oh, you must be…Xion?" I asked curiously. She looked _just_ like Kairi! Like literally! I felt tears threaten to leak down my cheeks. I frowned, quickly brushing them away. Something about her just made me feel sad.

"Yes, I am," Xion told me. "It's great to finally be meeting you, Sora. I've…heard a lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," I responded. I felt somewhat confused. Did Roxas know her? Was that why I felt sad?

Xion looked around as pretty much everyone else came up to us. Her eyes lit up when Demyx and Ienzo stepped out from the hotel. Demyx was carrying his sitar, as per usual. His strumming on it was setting everyone on edge, which would possibly explain the grumpy expression on Ienzo's face. But, then again, the two _never_ seemed to get along. Perhaps that had something to do with Ienzo not liking lazy people. Which would mean the two of them just clashed. Because from what I had seen of Demyx, he was quite lazy.

"Xion?" Demyx asked, raising his eyebrows. "Wow, I didn't think we'd see you here!"

I scratched my head. Did everyone know Xion but me? Or…did I know her?

Xion grinned. "Hi Demyx! Hello, Ienzo."

Demyx walked over and began speaking animatedly with her, but Ienzo looked slightly confused. Finally his eyes lit up with understanding.

"…Of course," Ienzo muttered under his breath. "The other replica: No. XIV: Xion." Ienzo walked up to Xion and held out his hand for her to shake. "Hello, it's nice to see you again, Xion."

"You too," she replied, watching him uncertainly.

I slowly headed over to Riku, watching the Cloaked Schemer introduce himself to the dark-haired teen.

I looked up at him. "Did…did Roxas know Xion?"

Riku continued to stare straight in front of him, not really looking at anything in particular. He then looked back at me and nodded.

"Yeah, they were best friends," he told me, his gaze neutral.

I kicked at a pebble with my foot. "I thought so. I felt kinda sad when I looked at her."

"Is anyone hungry here?" Terra inquired curiously. "It's past dinner time now."

"_I'm_ hungry," Lea announced, shoving his thumbs in his pockets. "How 'bout you, Isa?"

His blue-haired friend nodded.

It seemed like everyone else was, too. It appeared that for the first time everyone, literally _everyone_, was going to go and eat at this Italian restaurant that was down the street from the hotel.

…

I loved Italian food, and probably always would. Both Riku and Kairi liked it as well, so whenever the three of us went out to eat together we would usually go to an Italian restaurant.

The menu here held many different dishes than they had on Destiny Islands. And everything on it looked good. Eventually I settled on Lasagna, since I knew that I liked it. I'm sort of silly like that; I like choosing something that I'm sure I'll like.

I glanced to my left at Riku's menu. I had no idea what he would pick. I reached out and tapped his shoulder.

Riku looked over at me. "Yeah?"

"Whatcha getting?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know. Maybe Eggplant Parmesan," he replied.

I frowned. True, the three of us liked Italian food, but that didn't mean we liked the same kind.

I glanced around the table, lost in thought. I really hadn't thought of this before now, but it seemed kind of strange to be eating at the same table as members of Organization XIII. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined all of us would be sent on a mission to save the world _together_. But still, it was nice to have them on our side. I was really starting to get used to them helping us. It would've been nice if it were like this before, back when we had been fighting against the Nobodies. But oh well; at least we got along now!

I looked over at Kairi; she was intently studying her menu. I reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hmm? What is it, Sora?"

I grinned at her. "What are you getting? Have you decided yet?"

"Umm, no, not yet," Kairi told me, resuming her search through the menu.

I leaned back in my chair and observed my own menu. Was I sure that I wanted Lasagna? Hmm, Ziti looked really good as well… Nah, I'd just get Lasagna.

Finally a waitress walked over and began taking everyone's orders. They started with Aqua. Once they had gone around the table and Kairi had given her order of Ziti (hmm, maybe I should have tried the Ziti…), they finally turned to me and smiled. So I told them what I wanted to eat, and they went on to Riku.

I picked up my soda and began sipping it, watching as Braig spoke animatedly to Terra. For some reason the brunet looked annoyed. I guess I wasn't the only one that Braig liked to irritate!

Our food didn't take that long to reach us. My Lasagna looked really good. I glanced at Riku's plate of Eggplant Parmesan. I still wasn't sure how he could stand the stuff. Sure the sauce tasted good, but that was about it. But it looked like he was enjoying it.

I looked down and began eating my food. It actually tasted a bit different than the Lasagna they served on Destiny Islands. I didn't like this one half as much.

About forty minutes later (some people ate slow) we were done. Braig was the first one to stand and stretch.

"I'm gonna head back, don't know about any of you," Braig told all of us at the table. He turned and headed out of the restaurant, letting the door bang shut behind him.

Ienzo stood up as well, brushing the bangs from his face with a gloved hand.

"Yes, I think I am finished here as well," Ienzo said. "If everyone else is, then perhaps we should pay the waitress now before anyone else leaves without helping to pay." Ienzo glanced pointedly at the door where Braig had just disappeared.

We all chipped in. Basically each of us paid for our own food, or I think that's about how it would've equaled out. Except for Braig, that is. I kind of wonder if he didn't on purpose.

We all rose from the table. Some of us took leftover food back with us, and some didn't. I got a refill on my soda, as did Riku.

After we had stepped out of the building Ven turned around and grinned at me.

"See, Sora? I told you we'd find your friend," he told me happily. "That food was pretty good, wasn't it?"

I shrugged. "Kind of, the Italian food they had where I came from was better."

…

"Sora."

Someone was shaking my shoulder. I stirred and rolled over in my sleeping bag. I looked up into Kairi's face. She was bent over me, grinning.

"Good morning, Sora!" She walked over to the bed, which no longer held Riku, and sat down.

Riku had reasoned that since I had gotten the bed all of the other times we had been at hotels, it was now his turn to get it. I figured that he had a pretty valid point, so I had given up the bed without much of a fight. Instead I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor.

"Good morning," I said, stifling a yawn and sitting up.

"Riku's already up," she informed me, as though I hadn't already noticed. "Ienzo says we're leaving to a different world in about twenty minutes."

I sighed and looked towards the window. We certainly had been running through worlds an awful lot lately.

"Shouldn't we eat breakfast first?" I asked, leaning over to unzip my sleeping bag so that I could crawl out of it.

Kairi frowned and smoothed down the comforter on Riku's bed.

"That's what I thought, but everyone wants to hurry and leave," Kairi told me, then she laughed. "Well, except for the scientists. They all want to stay!"

I slid out of my sleeping bag and zipped it back up again. Then I began rolling it.

"Sora?"

I looked up at Kairi and grinned. "Yeah?"

"Do you think our world is destroyed right now?" Kairi asked, a look of concern on her face.

I got up and sat next to her on the bed. I frowned at the window, thinking.

"Probably, or at least mostly," I admitted. She looked a bit upset so I stuck my hands behind my head and gave her one of my best, biggest grins. "But don't worry, we'll save it!"

She smiled at me and then looked at the door as Riku stepped in, all dressed and ready to go. His long hair nicely brushed and everything. He _really_ needed to get a hair cut.

"Hi Riku," Kairi greeted him.

He sat down at the foot of the bed, staring at the door, lost in thought. Or at least he looked like he was lost in thought.

The three of us sat in silence for the next fifteen minutes, until Ienzo stepped in, followed by Even. I knew that it had been about fifteen minutes because I had been staring at the clock the entire time.

I stared at Ienzo in surprise; he wasn't wearing his organization coat! He was wearing a fairly normal outfit. Sure it was very nice and slightly stylish, but he had a pair of dark blue jeans and a gray turtleneck shirt. Compared with the outfit he had tried to get me to wear, this one wasn't fancy at all! It was odd seeing him dressed in something other then his coat, though. I had to admit it looked pretty good on him.

Even was also wearing something different. He too wore blue jeans, but he had a tan colored T-shirt and a dark brown, long-sleeved stylish coat-thing over top of it. He almost looked normal, but not quite. If he would stop doing this weird squinty thing with his eyes it would've helped a lot.

"Are you three ready to go?" Ienzo asked, tilting his head to one side. "Everyone else is quite eager to leave."

I looked over at Riku; he met my eye and nodded.

"Just about," I told him, getting to my feet. "I'll be right back."

I left the room and went into the bathroom; there was no reason for me to walk around in pajamas anymore.

…

I walked slowly up the winding staircase that would lead to my room within Maleficent's castle. It was a very gloomy room that greatly resembled the rest of her castle. The sooner we left this place the better.

Xehanort had told me to bring Xion back, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to force her. I still considered her my friend, maybe that had something to do with it. I looked down at my gloved hands and sighed. She most likely didn't consider me her friend anymore…if she ever had at all to begin with.

Probably not.

I ran up the last couple of stairs and continued to my room. I frowned as I walked along a hall with close to no light at all.

At the end of the hall I found the door to my bedroom. I reached out and turned the knob. Once in, I leaned against the wall and sighed. The room looked like it was ancient. The furnishings within it were all really old. Cobwebs littered the walls and floor. At least the bed wasn't covered in cobwebs; now _that_ would have been upsetting.

I went over and sat down on my bed, putting my face in my hands. I felt sad, but I couldn't quite figure out why. It was frustrating me… But I did have one idea, even if I didn't like it, and I knew that Xehanort would be furious with it. Did I—miss Xion? The more I thought about it, I felt sure that was it. Ugh, why was I feeling this way?! I wasn't supposed to befriend people and miss them! What was the matter with me?

I got up and strode over to my window, scowling at the brownish gray clouds that swirled endlessly around Maleficent's castle. I wondered if Xion was already with Sora, helping him out. She probably was. Did she miss _me_? I sighed, quickly answering that question in my mind: probably…_not._

Though I'd only met Riku once so far, I already didn't like him. Did he just think he could waltz in and take my best friend and Kairi?

I frowned, now knowing what I was going to go do. I turned around and opened up a portal.

I was going to go finish my fight against Riku. And he was going to lose.


	15. Prisoners

Authors Note: This chapter took me a lot longer to get it up than I thought it would, but here it is. I hope you enjoy. :) Please read and review.

Chapter Fifteen: Prisoners

I sighed heavily as I stepped out from a portal that led into the middle of Radiant Garden. If you compared it with Maleficent's castle it would be almost like the difference between night and day. It was so much more bright and cheerful. It was kinda odd but I had begun to find myself more drawn to cheerful things, I'd never used to feel like that before. Something had changed within me though, ever since I had traveled with Xion…

Ugh, did I really want to fight Riku? It had seemed like a good idea back at Maleficent's place, but now I didn't feel so sure. I knew this was crazy but for some reason what I _really_ wanted to do was walk right up to Sora and ask if I could join them in whatever it was they were trying to do. I think their objective was to stop Master Xehanort if I remembered correctly, but at the moment I honestly didn't care. The old man and I hadn't gotten along very well as of late. He refused to tell me all of his objectives, and yet he still expected me to follow him. Besides he didn't really need my help anymore; he had plenty already. Some people from some group known as Organization XIII were helping him out. Xehanort had told me that he even had some spies _within_ Sora's group reporting everything that the Keyblade wielder said or did. So far I had only met two of the members from the Organization: a rather grumpy and quiet man named Lexaeus and an extremely annoying woman called Larxene. Now the man didn't bother me, he was just—there. But Larxene…she was another story entirely. I couldn't stand to be in the same room as that witch for two minutes. She always seemed to know just the right thing to say to irritate me to pieces.

I sighed and looked up into a nearly cloudless sky. It was a nice, clear day in Radiant Garden. Where would be the most likely place for me to find Riku?

As if in answer I saw one of the Organization people we were working with leave out of a portal followed closely by Sora. And then a whole bunch of other people, including two people that worked with Xehanort, and Kairi.

"This couldn't be more perfect." I thought to myself. "Everyone I need all in one place."

As Xion was about to step through the portal I leaped down in front of her, blocking her path. It seemed like I had been doing an awful lot of that lately.

Xion gasped and stared up at me with her indigo blue eyes. "Vanitas!"

I turned my back to her and closed the portal, temporally preventing them from joining back up with the rest of the group.

Riku ran over to stand beside Xion; he pulled out his Keyblade and pointed it at me, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded.

"I came to finish our fight, Riku," I told him. "Since we didn't get to last time. If you win you're welcome to go and join your little friends. Though if I were you I wouldn't be so quick to call them that."

I pulled out my Keyblade and frowned. I wasn't sure why I hadn't noticed it before, but Riku and I held our Keyblade's in almost the exact same way.

"Vanitas, please don't!" Xion told me, she placed her hand on my arm and looked pleadingly up at me. "You can still change your mind. Are you sure that you don't want to fight with us?"

I looked at her and sighed. Honestly? I really wanted to join Sora's group, but I couldn't. There was no way that I _could_. Sora wouldn't let me, and Xehanort would be furious. Not that I honestly cared what Master Xehanort thought.

"Of course I am," I muttered, forcing myself to not meet her gaze. Though I remembered telling her that I didn't exactly want to work with Xehanort and it sounded like she remembered that. Without another thought I pushed her hand off my arm and charged at Riku.

The silver haired teen immediately lifted his Keyblade to block mine and I had to admit that he was pretty fast. I went at him again, though for some reason or another he wasn't fighting back, he was only defending himself.

"Why aren't you trying to attack me?" I demanded through gritted teeth. "We're enemies!"

Riku glared at me. "I think Xion's right, you could be on our side. This is your last chance… Do you want to join us?"

Why wouldn't they stop asking me that?! It was seriously getting on my nerves.

"NO!" I yelled, charging at him once again.

As our Keyblade's clashed I heard Xion yell something. I glanced around back her way. But I couldn't see her anywhere. I frowned. Where was she?

I glanced back at Riku in time to see him get a really dazed look on his face and collapse to the ground. What in the blazes was going on?

I looked passed Riku; standing on the other side of him was someone in a black coat, a member of Organization XIII. Oh, I guess they had decided to come and help me.

The man slowly began to stride towards me, I couldn't make out his face because his hood was drawn high but he was rather tall with broad shoulders. He didn't quite resemble Lexaeus though.

"Hey, I could've handled him," I grumbled irritably.

The man continued to walk over to me, and over his shoulder I saw someone else walked up behind him this person had his hood down. I didn't recognize him but it was no surprise sense I had only met three of the Organization members.

The man that wasn't wearing his hood smirked at me.

"Oh I'm _sure_ you could've Mr. Keyblade wielder," he said, sarcasm in his tone. "But you see here, we're not just after the other Keyblade wielder. As if! We need to bring you in as well."

I tilted my head to one side out of confusion. What did he mean he had to bring me in as well? Was Xehanort angry with me? Or perhaps he just wanted to speak with me.

The man strode up to me. "You gonna come quietly?"

"Huh?" I looked at him. "What do you mean 'come quietly'? If Xehanort wants to see me of course I'll come willingly."

The man raised a hand to chin and seemed to debate something.

"Hmm… Yeah I guess Xehanort wants to see you." He smirked. "In a—uh, matter of speaking."

"What do you—" I began though I didn't get to finish my sentence sense someone came up from behind and hit me upside the head with something extremely hard. "Ungh…" I mumbled as everything swam in front of my eyes. I fought hard to stay on my feet, but I still found the floor rushing up to meet me, and then everything went dark.

…

I struggled to get away as someone pinned me against them. I couldn't make out his face but I could still tell whom it was.

After several minutes I gave up trying to get away, and just stood still. I felt the person's grip slacken, but not enough for me to break away.

"Have I, eh, seen you before?"

I frowned trying to get a good look at the person's face, and they loosened their grip enough to allow me to do so, though they still kept a tight hold on my arm.

I looked up. It was the person I had thought it was. Axel, Organization XIII's eighth member and one of my best friends, but it didn't look like he remembered me.

It seemed sort of odd to be seeing Axel right after seeing Lea. They both acted the same on the one hand and completely different at the same time.

I smiled up at him. "Hello, Axel."

Axel frowned and with his free hand scratched the back of his head. He then looked at me again.

"Okay, so you know me…" he muttered under his breath. "But, well… You do seem familiar, I guess. But unfortunately I just don't remember from where."

I looked down, slightly saddened. "That's okay, I didn't expect you to."

"Axel, it's time to go."

I looked around to see who had spoken. It was Saix. It was weird seeing him after seeing his Somebody too. Isa was actually nice to me; I think there was even a possibility that we could be friends eventually. But when he was a Nobody he was so mean. But I guess that wasn't his fault, he just…didn't have his heart.

"'Kay," Axel replied tightening his grip on my arm and leading me towards a dark portal.

This time I didn't put up a fight, and instead just followed along willingly. Since he didn't have quite as tight of a grip on me there was a possibility that I could've gotten away, but I didn't see the point. And I also didn't want to leave my friends with the members of the Organization.

I halted briefly outside the portal and looked down at my clothes. I didn't really want to keep going through the portals without wearing my coat; I had been warned many times about doing so.

I felt Axel's grip tighten on my arm as he bent down so that his mouth was next to my ear.

"I wouldn't try to get away if I were you," he muttered under his breath. "You see that guy up there, the one with the blue hair and the X in the middle of his face? He's Saix, and he can get grumpy without a moments notice."

I scowled. "I wasn't going to."

"Oh _sure _you weren't," Axel whispered unconvincingly as he led me towards the portal. We walked passed Saix and into the depths of the dark corridors beyond.

As we stepped inside I noticed two other members of Organization XIII already a ways ahead of us in the portal. One of the members held Riku slung casually over a shoulder, and the other held Vanitas with just a little more care. With the way the one with Riku was being I wouldn't be very surprised if Riku woke up with a migraine and a sore back.

Saix took the lead and led us through the winding paths in the corridors of darkness. I'd never been to the World that Never Was from this direction before but as time wore on I became sure that was where we were headed.

Since Axel didn't remember me, I couldn't quite figure out why the Organization wanted us. Unless they were all working for Xehanort. That made the most sense.

After what seemed like ages we finally turned through an opening that led directly into the gray room within the Castle that Never Was. I looked around the room; it really hadn't changed much since I last saw it. All of the furniture was in the exact same locations. What made the room look _exactly _the same was perhaps the fact that Demyx sat strumming on his sitar atop one of the sofa's his booted feet on the glass table before it. I'm not sure why but the sight of him sitting there strumming on his sitar seemed funny to me. I grinned.

"Oh," Axel rubbed the back of his head, and then pointed at Demyx. "That's Organization XIII's number IX, his names Demyx. And no, he's not exactly supposed to have his feet up on the table." He glanced at Saix and than bent down close to my ear. "But I think Saix's about given up trying to get him to stop, heh."

Saix glanced at him as though he might have overheard, but I didn't think that he had, because his expression remained unchanged. He still had his usual frown frozen there.

"Xaldin, Xigbar," Saix said turning his gaze on the two members that held Riku and Vanitas. "Take those two to the dungeons. I suppose I'll take the conscious one to see The Superior."

I frowned. He was taking me to go see Xemnas? I didn't really want to see him, for some reason or another I just had the feeling that he might remember me.

I glanced up at Axel, he grinned and let go of me and for a moment I forgot that he didn't remember me anymore.

"I guess I'll see you later," Axel said, turning around to wave before he left the room.

Though he was my enemy at the moment I had felt safe while Axel had still been in the room. Saix and I just clashed, severely.

Saix turned to look at me. For a split second I thought I saw a look of recognition on his face and then it was gone, replaced by his usual frown.

"Follow me," Saix turned and walked out of the room, and I followed willingly.

As we strode down the gray corridors Saix glanced back over his shoulder at me, his golden eyes holding an unreadable expression within them.

"Have I seen you before?" he asked.

I hesitated, caught off guard, than shook my head no. "No. At least, I've never seen you before."

"Then do you know Axel?" Saix further asked. "He seemed to know you."

I shook my head no again, and kept walking. I heard Saix pause and I stopped as well.

"Look at me," Saix ordered. Once again I obeyed and looked up at him, hoping that he wouldn't remember me.

"You don't look familiar. I don't ever recall seeing a girl with black hair and blue eyes anywhere near this castle. But you remind me of someone…" he said quietly. "Have you ever been inside this castle before?"

"No I haven't," I replied.

"All right then," he turned and began walking on.

I felt a little surprised that he saw the way that I really looked and not as a puppet. I was glad though; he was treating me a bit nicer than he normally used to.

Saix stepped outside of a door and glanced back at me briefly before pulling it open.

We stepped into a dull gray room, much like the rest of the castle. With the only things in it being a brown desk with a chair and Xemnas, who was standing beside a large window with his arms raised to the sky, in the same stance that he almost always seemed to be in.

Saix paused just inside the room and held out his arm to halt me as well.

"Superior, we brought three of the people that you mentioned," Saix told him gesturing at me (though I don't know why he bothered, since Xemnas had his back to us).

"Is that so," Xemnas muttered slowly as he turned around to look at me. He met my eye and smiled pleasantly. "Why hello, Xion."

I glanced at Saix who scowled, but didn't say anything. Though I was sure that he was wondering how Xemnas knew my name.

I swallowed hard, but then forced myself to smile. "Hello, are you The Superior?"

The man nodded and gestured towards a chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

I sat down in the chair slowly, watching Xemnas as he made his way to the chair opposite me. Saix remained standing beside the door.

"It is very good to see you again, we had all been under the assumption that you were gone for good," Xemnas said, glancing at Saix as he spoke. "I hear that you and your friends are after something, and I would like to help you get it."

I looked at him, slightly confused. "I don't know what you mean."

Xemnas raised and eyebrow. "Really? I am referring to the book on Kingdom Hearts."

My eyes widened. "Y—you must be mistaken. We're not looking for any book."

"…I see." Xemnas scowled, his tone disbelieving. "But you must know of the book I am referring to."

I looked away. "No."

"It is a book that holds all of the secrets to Kingdom Hearts, it tells how to obtain it, as well as how to seal it from evil." Xemnas stood and made his way back over to a window. "I had assumed that Sora might be after it."

I fiddled with the edge of my sleeve. "He isn't."

"I hear that you met Xehanort… I think he may have deceived you, you see he is after Kingdom Hearts. He wants its power for himself. I'd like to stop him." Xemnas muttered, lifting his hands to the sky once more. "I believe your one friend, Vanitas was it? May have a good idea where to find it." Xemnas glanced over to where Saix still stood by the door. "Take Xion back to join her companions in the dungeon."

Saix nodded. "Of course."

The blue haired man gestured for me to follow him as he left the room and started back down the gray hallway.

He led me down through hallways I'd never seen before until he finally turned into a short hallway with two dungeon cells in it. Inside one I saw two shapes on the ground, Riku and Vanitas.

Saix strode over to the one containing my two friends and unlocked the door. He then swung it open and gestured for me to enter. Once I had he swung it shut once more and locked it.

"I suggest that you don't even try to escape. You see, Keyblade's don't work on these locks." Saix informed me, and the walked off before I could say anything else.

I sighed and turned around. Both Vanitas and Riku were still unconscious. I stood there looking back and forth between them for a moment, than I strode over to Vanitas and bent down beside him, placing his head in my lap.

I didn't understand him, he had told me that he didn't like Xehanort and that he didn't even have a reason for helping him anymore. And yet, he still insisted that he had to, and refused to join Sora. I had been really hopeful that he might help us. I had been surprised to find myself thinking this but he had become a really good friend of mine. My best friend before I joined Sora's group.

I began fiddling with Vanitas's hair absentmindedly as I thought about everything that had happened so far.

"Xion?"

I jumped and looked down, Vanitas had opened his eyes and he looked confusedly up at me.

"Oh, you're awake. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" I asked as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and was now looking around our dim cell.

He glanced back at me, his eyes clearing. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Where are we? Do you know?"

"We're in the Castle that Never Was." I glanced over at Riku as he sat up across the room. "After Sora and I fought Xemnas here I'd been hoping to never have to come here again."

Riku got to his feet and walked over to the door of the cell. He glanced back at Vanitas and I. "Any ideas on how to get out of here?"

Vanitas got to his feet and held out his hand to help me up. He glanced around once more.

"My Keyblade might be able to open the lock," Vanitas suggested. He glanced down at the ground an almost worried expression on his face. "Why would Xehanort want me locked up?"

"Xehanort's not in charge here," I told him. "Xemnas, his Nobody, is."

Vanitas looked at me scowled. "Xemnas? Than I guess we should try to find a way out of here."

The black haired teen walked over to Riku and placed his hand against the bars. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"This isn't going to be easy. They've taken precautions against Keyblades. The lock as well as the metal bars surrounding us have a magic barrier on them." Vanitas informed us. "It actually looks like we might not be able to brake out of here."

Riku sighed. "Then what are we gonna do? For some reason I don't think we should wait for the Organization to decide what to do with us."

Vanitas shrugged. "I don't think there's anything else that we can do."

I walked to the far side of the cell and sat down. I watched as Riku and Vanitas kept arguing about what to do, somewhat doubting if they could ever become friends. It seriously didn't look like it. I also doubted that they'd ever find a way to brake out of our prison cell. Xemnas was very smart; there probably _was_ no way for us to escape. I switched my gaze to the ground and sighed inwardly.

After awhile I heard someone come over and sit down beside me. I glanced over and met Vanitas's eye. I looked away again.

"Hey," he muttered. He seemed to hesitate before placing a hand on my shoulder. I glanced up at him and he gave me a quick smile, a true smile not one of his fake ones. "I'm sure they won't kill us or anything. We're all smart." He glanced at Riku doubtfully and then looked back at me. "We'll find a way out of here."


	16. Double Agents

Authors Note: This chapter is a bit shorter then normal but it was necessary to the plot. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen: Double Agents

"RIKU!"

I cupped my hands around my mouth and called my friends' name again, but I still didn't get an answer. Where was he? It was as if he had just vanished in thin air or something! I glanced over to where Kairi was at pacing a short distance away, she too was calling Riku's name looking nearly as concerned as I was if not more. She slowly began making her way over to me still looking around as she did so.

"I don't see him anywhere," Kairi informed me her gaze worried. "Should we go and see if anyone else found him?"

"Sure." I tucked my hands in my pockets and began to make my way onto another street, Kairi right behind me.

Everyone had come back to Radiant Garden to help look for Riku and Xion who had been supposed to be bringing up the rear through the portal but then hadn't come. It just didn't make any since how they could've disappeared like that or why they _would_. I hoped that they were okay. I kept telling myself that maybe someone else had already found them, though I somewhat doubted it.

I slipped my hand into Kairi's as we walked side by side down the paved street. She smiled up at me.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine," she told me cheerfully.

Now that was a change I thought, usually I was the one trying to get _her_ not to worry, not the other way around. I grinned down at her.

"Yeah, you're right." I glanced up at the sky. It was just as clear as it had been before we'd gone through the portal. Just a few puffy white clouds here and there littering the otherwise bright blue sky. I blinked and looked down, the brightness of the sun making my eyes hurt.

We walked in silence after that until we came across Lea, Isa and Demyx. Demyx stood leaning against the wall, Lea stood sipping some kind of drink and Isa stood glaring at both of them whilst gesturing down the street grumpily.

"I give up, it doesn't look like they're anywhere," Demyx informed his two companions as we walked up. Isa looked over at Demyx and noticed us his expression became grim.

"No luck?" Isa asked.

I shook my head. "No—I think Demyx is right, they're not in this world anymore. I just have no idea where they _are_."

"Well don't worry," Lea told me, he took another sip of his drink. "I'm sure he'll turn up."

"Should we keep looking or do we just go find everyone else and decide what to do from there?" Isa asked me.

I frowned and kicked at a pebble with my foot. "Lets go see what everyone else thinks, I guess."

Lea spun on his heal. "Right then lets go."

…

"Ienzo! You've gotta listen to me!"

I continued walking down the street, attempting to block Braig's annoying chatter from my mind. I glanced back over my shoulder at the desperate expression on his face and sighed, he wasn't making it easy.

"I have already told you," I began again hoping he'd just give up this time. "I no longer feel that I have any reason to help Xehanort. He is _not_ Xemnas and even if he was I still do not feel that I have any reason to help him."

Braig caught up to me and I quickened my pace.

"No no no, as if! You do have a reason to help both of them. Listen." Braig got directly in front of me. "Xemnas _is_ Xehanort, and you owe Xemnas a lot. He helped raise you! You don't think you should help _him_ for once?"

I glared at him. "My answer is still _no_ Braig."

"He isn't happy with you, you know. If you don't start helping him again _fast_, he might just decide to do away with you," Braig informed me. "He doesn't like traitors."

I stepped around him. "I am fully aware of that thank you. Now if you'll excuse me."

This time he didn't follow me, though I could feel him staring at the back of my head. I knew that he didn't care if Xehanort became angry with me he was only worried about what Xehanort would say to him. He had been supposed to recruit as many of the Organization's members as he could and it was not working as well as Xehanort would have liked. Not very many people seemed interested in joining him.

Once I had gotten a few streets away from Braig I halted and leaned back against a wall to a store. I thought back to my search for Riku and Xion, I had checked quite a few areas before Braig had come and demanded that he had to talk to me. I didn't know either one of them very well so if they were just around somewhere having fun I had absolutely no idea where to look. I let out a sigh and started off again lost in thought. Even though I was quite sure that helping Sora was the right thing to do, in the back of my mind I was unsure which side I should help. Though I knew that I owed Xehanort nothing. The only two people that had really raised me were Even and Ansem the Wise. Ansem was the most like a father figure to me whereas Even had always been more like an annoying uncle, though I _was_ still fond of him. Ansem had had the most patience for me, and I still missed him greatly, though he had to hate me as much as all of the rest of his apprentices by now.

I remembered the day Ansem had found Xemnas, or Xehanort as he had called himself. I had not trusted him from the moment that I met him, however everyone else had thought he was great even Ansem, so I'd just gone along with trusting him. And then he had started doing these strange, terrible experiments; he had Even and the rest of Ansem's apprentices helping him. Even had had me help him once and it had been truly awful, it had given me nightmares for months after that. I remember I had gone to Ansem trying to warn him without truly telling him because they'd made me promise not to, and finally after some time he had figured it out and ordered them to stop. But then not long after that they had sent him into the realm of darkness and all of Ansem's apprentices, myself included, had been turned into Nobodies.

It truly seemed rather odd to have a heart again considering I hadn't had one for most of my life. Since Nobodies didn't have hearts it was said that we had no way of feeling emotions, but it had been strange while I hadn't had a heart, on occasion I could have sworn that I had felt some fleeting emotion of sadness or fear.

I turned a corner and walked headlong into Kairi. We collided and both very nearly fell to the paved ground.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you," I told her, rubbing my head with a gloved hand.

"Oh it okay, I'm sorry too," Kairi smiled at me good-naturedly.

I glanced behind her and saw Lea snorting into his drink, Demyx was also laughing, leaning on his Sitar, Isa wasn't laughing but he stood a short distance behind them trying to hide a smile. What was the matter with them? I mean really, two people run into each other, get hurt and they act like it's the funniest thing in the world.

Sora laughed and walked over. "You both okay? That looked like it hurt."

Kairi laughed. "Yep, I'm fine."

I looked at Sora, my head still throbbing. "Could I have a word with you?"

Sora looked slightly dumbfounded but shrugged. "Sure."

I glanced briefly at the other four, Lea and Demyx were still laughing and now Isa had joined in. "Eh, follow me."

I led him back around the corner and down the very wide paved street that I had just come from. I paused after stepping onto another street just beyond. Sora stopped walking beside me and glanced around as well.

"Where is he?" Sora muttered under his breath.

"Riku? It doesn't look like he's in this world anymore," I told him. "He's probably in some other world or time come to think of it."

"Yeah, I don't think he's here anymore either," Sora agreed.

I led him over to a bench across the street; I glanced around briefly before sitting down. Luckily I didn't see Braig anywhere.

"I wanted you to know something," I began. I glanced up at the sky and blinked at the brightness of it. I was positive now this _was_ the right thing to do. "Before we all went to Traverse Town, Xehanort pulled a three of us Organization members aside and asked us to help him, to spy on you, pretend to help you and gain your trust to betray you at the proper moment. The three people he asked to help him were Braig, Dilan and myself."

Sora's eyes widened. "So… you guys have been working for him the entire time. But, I don't get it, if you're helping Xehanort why'd you just tell me?"

I took a deep breath. "I've decided that I don't want to help him, I owe him nothing and I'd rather not help him ruin countless lives."

"So you're on our side now?" Sora inquired, a slight frown furrowing his eyebrows.

I nodded. "Yes."

Sora jumped up and pulled out his Keyblade a determined expression on his face. "Well then we need to go speak with Braig and Dilan."

He turned and began walking away. I got up from the bench and hurried after him.

"Wait!"

He turned to face me his Keyblade slung over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I think it might be better if you don't confront them just yet," I explained. "It might be a better idea to act like you have no idea that they're not on our side, and just keep an eye on them. It might give us an advantage."

Sora made his Keyblade disappear and crossed his arms. "Hmm, I don't know…"

"If you confront them, they'll leave and join Xehanort and he and his army might just launch an all out assault, which we can't win," I told him. "He has more people on his side then just them, plus an army of Heartless and creatures called Unversed."

"Okay then, you think we should just keep an eye on them," Sora said. "But how do I know I can trust you? I mean you could still be working for Xehanort."

"I guess you don't. Or maybe you will when Xehanort tries to kill me," I told him smiling.

Sora began pacing back and forth looking deep in thought. Finally he turned to face me again. "Okay, I'll trust you for now. But I'm gonna be keeping an eye on you."

I nodded. "Sounds reasonable."

"Okay, lets go catch up with everyone else," Sora said.

I followed Sora as we made our way back to where we'd left Kairi and the other three.


	17. Help from a Friend

Authors Note: This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. :) Please read and review.

Chapter Seventeen: Help from a Friend

I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes, the sound of raindrops beating down against a tiny window high up on the wall of our cell making me feel drowsy. After several minutes I opened my eyes a crack and looked around the room. Vanitas sat a short distance away, staring up at the silvery-gray ceiling. Now Riku somehow, had managed to stay standing leaning against the wall by the cells bars for the past few hours, though I couldn't be exactly sure how much time had past considering the cell didn't have a clock in it.

I let my eyes fall closed again and since there didn't seem to be anything else to do, I tried to count the raindrops falling, however I lost count almost as soon as I had started, so I decided that I was happy just listening to it.

"I've got it!" Vanitas yelled suddenly, snapping me out of a sort of waking doze. I looked at him, he had rose to his feet and was holding a strange device in the palm of his hand.

I got to my feet quickly and peered over his shoulder. Riku was also watching Vanitas from where he stood by the wall.

"What is it?" I asked curiously, squinting at the little device in his hand.

"It's a magical object that allows me to contact a person with a similar object," Vanitas informed me, sounding pleased. "Xehanort's got one just like it."

Before I could say anything to him Riku had snatched the device from Vanitas's hand and stood glaring daggers at him.

"Are you completely crazy?" Riku demanded. "If you tell Xehanort where we are he'll likely kill Xion and me. And though I know that you and I are like worst enemies, do you really want that to happen to _her_?"

Vanitas just stared at Riku, uncertainty clearly written across his pale face. After several moments Vanitas held out his hand for the device and Riku handed it back to him _his_ expression unreadable. I looked over at Vanitas again.

He would probably contact Xehanort anyway, I thought to myself, even though we were or had been friends I somewhat doubted that he cared that much.

"Fine," Vanitas muttered, returning Riku's glare. He then glanced at me and his expression softened. "Sorry, I guess I hadn't thought about that."

I stared at him, feeling a bit surprised. "Umm, it's okay."

He gave me a half-smile and resumed his position by the wall, tucking the device into his pocket as he did so.

I went and sat down not to far away from him. He had his eyes shut and was sitting perfectly still. I would've thought that he was asleep except for the fact that he had only just sat down.

I looked down at my hands and smiled. It looked like Vanitas still thought of me as a friend. For some reason that made me feel happy, maybe because he still seemed like a friend to me.

I glanced up as on the other side of the room Riku finally sat down as well.

I sat in silence (except for the sound of rain) for quite some time. It was strange but now that I wanted to fall asleep I couldn't. But then everything in life was like that. You could easily do something until you needed or wanted to, or you can remember something until you need to. It was slightly annoying.

"Xion?" Vanitas whispered softly. "Are you still awake?"

I opened my eyes and looked over at him. "Yeah I am. I was just listening to the rain. It sounds nice, doesn't it?"

Vanitas moved over to sit beside me and smiled. "I don't know, for some reason it always irritated me, I'm not sure why. Or maybe I do," Vanitas chuckled. "Back when I was younger, about nine or ten, I used to be terrified of storms, not really of the rain but of the thunder." He grinned. "I'm not anymore obviously."

Vanitas looked up at the ceiling again, he appeared to be deep in thought.

"I suppose thunder would seem pretty scary to someone young, I wouldn't know though since I was never that young. Xehanort told you about what I am right?" I asked him. "What was it like being a kid or having parents Vanitas?"

Vanitas chuckled softly. "I'm afraid that I can't help you much, considering that I didn't exist before the time I was about nine. And I didn't have parents, unless you count Ventus's I guess. And yeah, he did tell me."

I tilted my head out of confusion and frowned. "What?" What did he mean by that? Was he like me, a puppet?

"I'm not exactly a real person, I'm only a part of one," Vanitas told me, his expression darkened. "Have you ever heard of someone named Ventus?"

I shook my head no, my bangs momentarily falling into my face.

"Well, basically I'm his dark side. Not a whole person. My purpose is to be mean, evil, dark and help Xehanort obtain Kingdom Hearts," Vanitas told me, severe bitterness in his tone. "So, I'm basically just Xehanort's pet."

"Well you're not," I told him cheerfully.

Vanitas scowled, confusion clouding his gaze. "Not what?"

"You're not evil," I smiled at him. "Now _Xehanort _on the other hand…"

"Yeah talk about an evil person," Vanitas laughed. "I think he invented it."

I thought back to when I had been helping Xehanort not that long ago, he had fooled me so easily into thinking that he was an okay person but he definitely wasn't. And I was really glad to not be helping him anymore.

"Vanitas?" I began. "If you dislike Xehanort so much, then why _are_ you helping him?" I knew that I had asked him a similar question before, but I didn't think that he had given me a very good answer.

Vanitas's smile slowly faded, replaced by a deep scowl. "I guess it's because I'm afraid not to. My entire life he's always told me that I _had_ to help him, that it was my duty to join back with Ventus and create the key to Kingdom Hearts."

I watched him sadly. "I think you should try to be your own person, live how _you_ want to."

"Do you really think I could?" Vanitas asked, an odd expression on his face that I just couldn't read.

I nodded. "Of course."

Vanitas smiled and raised a gloved hand to stroke my cheek. Surprised I only watched as he then moved closer and kissed me. Before I had time to process it he had jerked back and was staring wide eyed at something over my shoulder. I glanced back over my shoulder to see what he was staring at and let out a small gasp in surprise. A small creature had appeared, it wasn't a heartless but it reminded me of one. It was about as tall as a shadow and it looked like it was a dark bluish color, though I wasn't sure since it was near impossible to make out any color in the cell.

Vanitas got up, stalked over to the creature and struck it down with his Keyblade. He glanced back over at me, his eyes glistening in the darkness. He looked sad. I wanted to say something nice to him, but I really couldn't think of anything to say.

"I—I'm sorry. Thank you, Xion," Vanitas told me as he passed by me to the other side of the cell. I opened my mouth to say something to him but he was already on the other side of the cell and I still had absolutely no idea what to say, so I decided against it.

I felt so confused about Vanitas; did he really feel that way about me? And…did I feel that way about him at all? I wasn't sure. I mean I definitely considered him a really good friend of mine, but did I feel_ that_ way about him? I sighed, leaned back against the wall, closed my eyes and listened to the steady sound of the rain falling once more.

…

Sometime later that night I awoke to the sound of soft footfalls, they were only just audible over the sound of the rain that was still falling outside the window. I leaned forward and peered around the cell; both Riku and Vanitas were still sleeping. I frowned and tried to see through the bars in the dim light. Just beyond them I could barely make out a shadowy figure.

I stood up and slowly made my way over to the bars. It was Axel. Upon seeing me he grinned.

"Hey there…Xion," Axel said leaning forward and peering at me through the bars, hands on his hips. "How have you been?"

He remembered me! I couldn't believe it! I grinned back.

"Axel you remember me," I told him happily. "I've been okay, what about you?"

"Oh, I've been managing," Axel replied. "_So_, you're trying to stop Xemnas right?"

I shook my head no, my bangs falling into my face. "No, we're trying to stop Xehanort actually, his sort of Somebody." I drew in a breath realizing that I probably shouldn't have told him that.

"Well, I'm not too pleased with Xemnas at the moment and seeing as how you're one of my best friends I think I'll help you for awhile," Axel told me holding up a key. "And I think I'll start with letting you and your friends out."

Axel bent down and unlocked the cell door. He then swung it open.

"Really?" I smiled happily at him. "Thank you so much!"

"You're very welcome," Axel replied.

"What's going on?" Riku asked coming to stand beside me. He was eyeing Axel suspiciously. "What do you want?"

Vanitas stirred a short distance away but didn't wake up.

"Ugh." Axel shook his head. "I try to help and all anyone does is accuse me of doing something bad," Axel muttered under his breath. "I'm letting you guys out."

Riku raised an eyebrow, he looked doubtful. "Really?"

Axel nodded. "You better hurry before someone decides to get up and check on you."

I started to walk over to Vanitas but Riku caught my arm. I frowned at him.

"Are you sure we should bring him with us?" Riku asked me.

"Of course! Xemnas will be really angry if he's the only one left here," I told him. "Besides I—I think he might help us now."

Riku still looked doubtful but he released my arm anyway.

I knelt down next to Vanitas and shook his shoulder gently. He opened his eyes and sat up, looking slightly confused.

"Xion?" he asked confusedly.

"Axel's letting us out," Riku told him before I could. "If you want to get out then hurry up."

Vanitas stood up; he no longer looked very confused, he stalked passed Riku and left the cell. For a moment I wondered if he was going to keep walking and go his own way (probably back to help Xehanort) but he halted a short distance down the hallway.

I got to my feet and left out of the cell as well, Riku right behind me. Once Riku was out of the cell Axel swung the door shut again. He then looked at me.

"So where are we off to?" Axel inquired.

I blinked surprised and not for the first time or even the second that day. "You're going to come with us?"

Axel shrugged. "Sure, why not. Besides they're gonna know that I helped you, so if I stay it'll be Dusk city for me."

"Maybe we should focus on getting out of here," Vanitas suggested, his arms crossed. "If we open a portal in here the Organization will be able to follow us easily."

Axel nodded. "Good point. All right, follow me."

Axel took the lead as we walked up the stairs leading out of the dungeons. Unlike many other dungeons the ones in The Castle that Never Was were above the ground and in almost every cell there was a small window. Usually you could see Kingdom Hearts out of all of the windows aligning one line of cells, but since it was raining all you could see was raindrops streaming down the window panes.

Without speaking we all made our way through the large castle as silently as we could with all of our shoes echoing loudly throughout the empty hallways. It was hard to walk quietly and fast at the same time when every single one of us (except for Riku) was wearing boots.

Finally, after what seemed like ages we made it out of the castle. Outside the rain was still coming down in thick sheets. I shivered, the cool rain combined with cold wind made it feel pretty chilly outside.

Vanitas began walking down the street purposefully gesturing for us to follow. I did with Riku and Axel right behind me.

Vanitas finally came to halt a few streets from the castle and turned to face us.

"This should be far enough away," he told the three of us. "What world or time are we headed to?"

Riku stepped forward so that he was standing beside me instead of behind. "I think we should leave this time period, if we don't want them following us."

"Good idea," Vanitas agreed. "Backward or forward?"

"How about back in time," Riku suggested. "I don't really want to go to the future."

Axel frowned and came up to stand on my other side. "Wait, we're going through _time_?"

Vanitas smirked and nodded. "Yeah, are you still coming with us?"

"Sure, sounds like fun," Axel said.

Vanitas shook his head and opened up a time portal. "Whatever, who'd like to go first?"

I glanced at Riku; he looked slightly hesitant so I stepped forward so that I was now standing right in front of the portal and then turned back to look at my three companions.

"I'll go," I offered, trying to brace myself against the portal. I nearly jumped as Vanitas placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I promise that it's not leading to Xehanort," Vanitas told me, and he really looked like he was telling the truth. "Oh and you might want to try keeping your eyes open and focusing on one thing like say a design on your sleeve for example. It should keep you from feeling quite as dizzy."

"Thanks," I replied, smiling up at him. I sure hoped that it would make it easier.

Vanitas grinned back and took his hand off of my shoulder. I quickly looked away remembering the events that had taken place earlier. I still felt beyond confused about my feelings on all of that.

"Well, shouldn't we get going then?" Axel asked after a moment.

I looked his way and nodded. "Right." I turned back to face the portal, drew in a deep breath and stepped inside.


	18. The Master, the Maester, and the Nymph

Author Note: Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you all like enjoy it. :)

Just curious, does anyone else think that Marluxia and Larxene belong together?

Chapter Eighteen: The Master, the Maester and the Nymph

I followed Kairi as she made her way into a restaurant. Ahead of us Ienzo, Terra, Aqua and Ventus were being led over to a table for six by a waitress.

It had been a day since Riku and Xion had gone missing and there still wasn't any sign of them. Everyone had agreed to wait around for them to return until ten in the morning, and if they still weren't back, we were going to leave this world or time without them. Personally I didn't think it made a difference whether we left or stayed, since we had no idea what to do next, but everyone else (besides Kairi) wanted to travel around until we figured out our next course of action.

"Hey Sora," Ventus began, looking at me from his seat at the table. "Want to sit over here?"

"Sure," I replied going over to take one of the seats beside him. Terra sat down on his other side, which left Kairi, Aqua and Ienzo sitting opposite us. Ienzo sat directly in front of me already scanning his menu.

I lifted my own menu and briefly glanced through the drinks and then onto the breakfast foods. Their jelly filled biscuits looked good.

Finally a waiter walked up, a notepad in hand and began taking everyone's orders. When it got to my turn I ordered orange juice and a biscuit with jelly inside.

I glanced around Ventus when I heard the sound of pages turning. Terra was flipping through a newspaper. From across the table Aqua also looked at him, she raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't like reading the newspaper, Terra," she commented lightly, amusement clearly written across her face.

Terra folded the newspaper onto his lap. "That's right, I don't. It's just on the way here some old man walked up asking if I'd 'heard the news!'" Terra told her. "So I thought I'd take a look."

I took the lid off of my orange juice that had just arrived and took a sip. Many people thought I was crazy but I'd always liked orange juice. I glanced over at Ventus as he took the paper off of Terra's lap.

"Anything interesting going on?" Ventus asked his friend, scanning the front page.

Terra shook his head. "Nope, nothing that makes since to me anyway. It was probably some piece of gossip that you have no way of understanding unless you're from here."

Everyone remained fairly silent after that apart from Terra, Aqua and Ventus joking with each other off and on.

We all pretty much finished with our food around the same time and left the restaurant. Ienzo led the way as we walked back to our hotel; it was about five minutes until ten. I really hoped that Riku would just pop up again or maybe already be at the hotel, but I doubted it.

It didn't take very long to reach the hotel; we got there three after ten. Everyone was already there by the time we arrived, everyone besides Riku and Xion. Most everyone was talking, discussing what we should do next. Except for David, Isa and Marluxia. David and Isa were playing chess. The fact that David was Even's brother creped me out, but he actually was very different from his brother. David had a much better sense of humor. Marluxia sat beside David and Isa giving pointers whenever he felt like it to whomever he felt like giving them to. He seemed to be irritating Isa to pieces.

"Come on Sora," Kairi said, gesturing for me to follow her across the room to where Ienzo was speaking with Even, Braig and Dilan.

As we drew nearer to them Ienzo smiled apologetically.

"It sounds like everyone still wants to leave," he told me.

I nodded. I'd kinda figured that would be the case. "That's okay. Riku's not in this world anyway so we might have a better chance at running across him in a different one," I said optimistically.

"Riku seems smart, I'm sure he'll find us," Terra said, walking up behind me.

I glanced to my left as Lea came bounding up, and un-surprisingly was eating sea-salt ice cream.

"So, where're we going now?"" Lea asked, looking back and forth between Ienzo and me.

Of course it was Even that answered, though. "We've been discussing heading to a different time period and then perhaps to Traverse Town."

"When are we leaving?" Demyx asked, also walking up.

Ienzo looked around the room. "I suppose as soon as everyone's ready."

David, Isa and Marluxia joined us then, abandoning their chess game. I frowned, noticing for the first time that everyone was wearing new clothes. I was really hardly surprised to see that Marluxia was wearing a salmon colored shirt. I'd seen quite a few guys wear the same shade of pink before, my grandfather for instance. He'd told me that pink actually used to be a 'boy' color… _that_ had surprised me for some reason.

"It looks like everyone's ready now," Marluxia told us. "Shall we be going then?"

"Yes, lets not waste anymore time," Even agreed grumpily.

Ienzo opened a time portal. That made anyone that wasn't paying attention to us look over. Only moments later everyone had gathered around it. Lea stood on my left while Kairi stood to my right. She was staring intently into the portal frowning slightly.

Even was the first to step up to the portal, he stopped just in front of it and glared back at all of us.

"I'm going to go first," Even stated matter-of-factly, still glaring at all of us. "And if any of you so much as _think_ to object, well, you'll regret it."

"Personally, I think _he_ should go to a funny farm," Lea muttered into my ear. I somewhat agreed.

Ienzo sighed irritably. "By all means Even, do what you like."

Even stepped into the portal, the rest of us following after him in single file.

…

I actually remained standing after going through the time portal. True I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't stumbled straight into Dilan. He glared back over his shoulder at me. Whoops.

"Watch where you're going," he told me angrily as he walked away.

I took a couple of steps back as Kairi stumbled through the portal. She wasn't as lucky though, and ended up flat on the ground.

I crouched down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay Kairi?"

She nodded, bringing herself into a sitting position. "Yeah. Those portals really aren't funny though."

"Wow," Isa muttered a short way ahead of us. "Where are we?"

I turned around, curious as to what had surprised him that much. I looked around, a bit surprised. We appeared to be underground in some kind of village, maybe? Or perhaps we weren't. It also looked like we were in a forest; or maybe we were actually standing _on_ trees. Pretty much everything was green, with vines and moss intertwining on most everything. The only thing that made me think that we were underground was the fact that I couldn't see the sky overhead. My eyes widened as not far ahead of us someone began walking over. He wasn't a human, that was for sure, but he resembled one. He had gray hair, long hands with _extremely _long fingers that ended in cat-like nails. Apart from that it looked like you could see his veins through his face, and he also had pointed ears.

The man finally reached us, a smile upon his face. "Hello there," he greeted, "Welcome to Guadosalam. I take it you're here to see the Farplane? If you take that path downwards you should reach it in under five minutes." He smiled.

"…Where?" Ventus asked, looking as confused as I felt.

The man frowned. "Why, the Farplane of course."

Ienzo stepped forward, a slight scowl upon his face. "…The Farplane… I had heard of such a place but I had no idea that it truly existed. I always believed that it was a myth," Ienzo said half to himself. He looked back at the man. "I'm sorry, what town did you say this was again?"

"Guadosalam," the man replied, no longer smiling. He then took a step back. "Well it was nice meeting all of you, but I really must be going now."

We all watched him go without any objections. When he was finally out of earshot Ienzo turned to face all of us.

"I never thought I'd see this place," Ienzo told everyone happily. "The Farplane is a place that unites the living with their memory of the dead. So it only shows illusions of them, but still."

I tilted my head to the side, frowning slightly. He made that sound like a good thing, personally I thought it sounded kinda freaky.

"Really?" Ven asked, looking intrigued. "Like anyone that you want?"

Ienzo nodded, brushing his bangs out of his face.

Ventus looked down. "What about if you've never met them before or don't remember them?"

Aqua walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't believe so, though I'm not positive," Ienzo told him. He glanced over at me. "Would it be alright if we stop in the Farplane before continuing?"

"Sure, why not," I agreed. I was curious to see it as well.

Everyone wanted to see the Farplane, so we followed the strange mans (creatures) advice and followed the path down towards it. Along the way I saw several other beings like him, some didn't pay any attention to us while others stopped whatever they were doing and stared as though they'd never seen a human before. Maybe they hadn't.

We reached the entrance to the Farplane in only a few minutes. One of the strange beings stood just outside it, he looked like he was a guarding it; he nodded at us when we walked up.

Ienzo was the first to step inside; he walked just far enough in that we could get in behind him. I followed along behind Lea and Isa as they stepped inside.

The Farplane was not a big as I had thought it would be by the sound of it. It was mainly this large, roundish platform, with all these weird swirling lights moving about. It was definitely a strange place.

Once everyone was inside we all split off. I couldn't think of anyone that I really wanted to see that was dead, so I followed Kairi as she walked towards the edge of the platform.

Kairi came to a stop about two feet from the edge. I nearly jumped as all of the swirling lights came together, taking the shape of an old lady. I'd seen her once before when Kairi's heart had been inside of me. The old lady was Kairi's grandmother.

I walked a couple of paces forward so that I was standing beside her. Kairi smiled at me.

"I wish I could remember her better," Kairi said, gazing at her grandmother. "Isn't there anyone that you'd like to see Sora?"

I stuck my hands behind my head. "I can't think of anyone." I looked around the clearing. Everyone apart from Braig and Dilan were looking at illusions of people they had once known.

"Hey Kairi?" I began. "I'm gonna go take a look around. Do you want to come?"

Kairi nodded. "Sure."

I walked back towards the exit, Kairi following along behind me.

Once back outside of the Farplane I stopped and looked around, unsure on what direction to head in first.

"Want to go that way?" Kairi asked, pointing down the path.

I shrugged. "Okay."

We hadn't gone very far when we came across a tunnel. Just like with the Farplane one of those creatures stood guard outside it. However as we were approaching it he walked over to another one of his kind, and the two began talking.

I walked up to the tunnel and peered inside. Kairi came up beside me and looked inside it as well.

"What do you thinks through there?" Kairi asked me.

"I have no idea," I replied. "Let's go see."

"Okay," Kairi agreed, once again following me as I stepped into the tunnel.

We stepped out of the tunnel and onto some kind of plain. I could see the sky now; it was covered by thick storm clouds. Large stone pillars stretched out across the plain every so many yards. While I was looking around a bolt of lightning came down and struck the pillar closest to where Kairi and I stood. I nearly jumped.

"Do you think this place is part of Guadosalam?" Kairi asked me, staring at where the lightning had struck the pillar.

"This _place_ is called the Thunder Plains! Isn't it wonderful?"

This time I really did jump, I then quickly turned to look behind me. The person that had spoken was a young woman with blonde hair about to her shoulders; she had two small sections of it sticking up from the rest of her hair in the front, resembling antennas. She was also wearing an Organization coat. I pulled out my Keyblade. This couldn't be good.

The young woman laughed. "Hello Sora," she greeted. "I've heard _so_ much about you."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"My name's Larxene," she told me. "Number XII in Organization XIII."

Larxene… That name sounded so familiar. Had I met her before?

"So, Sora," Larxene began. "I've been told to give you a choice." She smirked as she made her weapons appear, small knives, one between each of her fingers. She pointed them at me. "Join Xehanort—or die."

Did Xehanort really think I'd consider joining him?

"Of course I wont help Xehanort!" I told her angrily, without a moment's hesitation.

Larxene scowled. "Really?" she asked, electricity sparking along her knives. "Then say good-bye little boy."

She charged at me and I just barely had time to lift my Keyblade to block her.

"Stay back Kairi!" I yelled as I swung my Keyblade at Larxene, who leaped back out of the way.

Larxene came at me again, moving in a fast circle to try and get at me. I rolled to the side and swung my Keyblade at her again, and she got out of the way yet again. She _really_ moved fast.

Only a moment later Larxene shot a thunderbolt at me, I barely managed to avoid it. I looked up and frowned, where was she? Kairi gasped at the same time that I heard metal clashing against metal and spun around.

Larxene had somehow managed to get behind me. It looked like she had been trying to stab me from behind, but her knives had hit another object, a scythe…Marluxia's scythe.

I took a step backwards, my Keyblade still at the ready.

"Larxene," Marluxia said, moving his scythe back. "How nice to see you again. You have your heart I presume?"

Larxene nodded. "Yes."

He smiled at her and held out his hand. "Care to join me on my mission?"

"What is your 'mission' this time Marluxia?" Larxene asked; sounding annoyed.

"The same as theirs at the moment," Marluxia said, gesturing towards Kairi and me. "Which is to put a stop to Xehanort and his evil plan to take over the world."

Larxene crossed her arms and walked a couple of paces in front of him. "Hmm, how about this," she began, facing Marluxia again. She pointed at him. "_You_ help Xehanort get Kingdom Hearts."

"Honestly I'm quite glad to have my heart again," Marluxia told her. "If we help Xehanort he'll only use us to get whatever he wants. But what would be in it for us? Nothing."

Larxene watched him for a moment. "I really didn't want my heart back you know."

I walked over to Kairi; still watching the two of them talk. They sounded like they were old friends, and I didn't want to get in the middle of their reunion.

"I know that," Marluxia said, letting his scythe fade away entirely. It vanished in a bunch of flower petals. "But come on, Xehanort doesn't have anything that you want."

Marluxia walked over to Larxene and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Let's just be happy while we have our hearts, all right?" Marluxia said, sounding much kinder then I thought he _could_ sound. "I'm not sure how long it'll last."

Larxene looked down and nodded.

They were both very strange people, I thought to myself. Both of them were not nice, and I didn't like either of them, but they both were acting very nice to each other.

Marluxia smiled at Larxene. "Then you're willing to help them?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Larxene said. "Even though I don't see the point."

"I do not either but what else is there to do at the moment?" Marluxia asked. He gave Larxene's shoulders a squeeze and then they both turned to face Kairi and me.

Kairi smiled un-certainly at them. "You both know each other?" she asked; perhaps just to break the silence.

Marluxia nodded. "Yes…true not as well as you and Sora do, but close."

We stood there silently for a moment and then Marluxia began leading Larxene back into Guadosalam.

I frowned and glanced at Kairi, she had her eyebrows raised.

"Uh, Marluxia?" I called. "Is she—Larxene are you on our side now?"

Larxene smirked. "It looks like it, Sora. So long as you and your little friends don't annoy me too much."

"Don't worry, we wont," Kairi assured her quickly.

"Good then," Larxene said.

Marluxia and Larxene stepped into the tunnel and left back into Guadosalam.

I turned back to look at Kairi, still feeling utterly bewildered. I guess it was a good thing that Larxene was going to be helping us?

Lightning struck the pillar closest to us once again, and Kairi and I both looked up at the same time.

"Do you think we should head back into Guadosalam?" Kairi asked me, eyeing the storm clouds over head.

I nodded. "Yeah…I think that might be a good idea."

…

So everyone had decided to stay in Guadosalam…for the time being. It didn't make sense to me, but maybe that was because I didn't like the town very much. It was eerily quiet, and you couldn't see the sky. I liked being able to see the sun.

It had taken awhile for everyone to notice Larxene, but once they had many people didn't seem too happy about it.

I sighed, looking over a railing down into Guadosalam. It was getting late and there weren't as many of the strange creatures around anymore. I was really curious what they were.

I jumped and spun around as I heard a dark portal open up right behind me. I pulled out my Keyblade before I even saw who it was.

Yep, as I had thought, it was a member of Organization XIII. I had no idea whom it was because the person had their hood up, but it was a man.

He strode over to me slowly; when he was fairly close he pulled down his hood. He had ebony colored hair mixed with some gray, his eyes looked like they were somewhat dark as well, but that could've just been because of the lighting. I didn't recognize him from the Organization, but then I didn't recognize Larxene either. Did I?

"My name is Eraqus…Master Eraqus as some people call me," the man said. He held out a hand for me to shake. "I am a Keyblade Master."

I frowned. His voice sounded so familiar. Where had I heard it before… And his name too… Wait! Eraqus was the name of the Keyblade Master that trained Aqua, Terra and Ventus!

I took a step forward and shook his hand. "I'm Sora!"

He smiled and then he walked passed me to look over the railing, a deep scowl on his face. I made my Keyblade disappear and stood to his side staring down at the town below.

"So…" I began, watching the much older Keywielder. "You trained Terra, Aqua and Ventus, right?"

He turned to look at me and nodded. "That's right. How are they if might ask?"

"Good," I replied. I was quiet for a moment. "Is there anything I can help you with Master Eraqus?"

He let out a sigh. "Yes, I need you to help me stop Xehanort."

"Sure, we've been trying to figure out a way. Do you have any ideas?" I asked.

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You need to go back in time, very far I think," Eraqus responded after a moment. "You need to retrieve something. A way to stop Xehanort."

I placed where I'd heard his voice then. He was the man that had sent me through the portal and out of my own time to begin with!

"You sent me threw the portal, didn't you?" I asked, putting my thoughts into words.

The man nodded. "Yes, it was me."

"So we need to go back in time?" I asked, curiously. "Do you know how far back?"

"Yes," the man muttered. "I've already spoken to Aqua about it…the one here with you. She knows what to do."

"Okay," I said.

Eraqus looked at me curiously. "I'm surprised you're so willing to trust me."

"Well, you were the one that sent me from my time period. And you trained Aqua, Terra and Ventus. I trust them. And you don't seem to like Xehanort, so I guess…" I crossed my arms and looked towards where the sky should've been, frowning slightly.

Eraqus laughed, amusement glittering in his eyes. "You remind me very much of myself when I was younger. Much like Ventus as well."

I guess that was a compliment? He was a Keyblade master, so I suppose it most likely was.

Eraqus opened a portal and took a couple of steps forward. He stopped just in front of it and turned to face me.

"I almost forgot," he muttered, walking back over to me. He pulled out a small stack of Organization coats and handed them to me. "If you must go through the Lanes Between or Corridors of Darkness, then remember to put one on. It will protect you from the darkness in them. Give one to each of your friends that does not have one."

I grinned up at him, accepting the coats. "Thanks!"

He smiled and then went through the portal. I watched him go, and then looked down at the coats in my hand. I'd never worn one before.

"A portal to the Lanes Between, correct?"

I jumped and spun around. I frowned slightly at who stood behind me this time. It was a man, most likely anywhere between twenty-five and thirty years old. His hair was the strangest thing I had ever seen. It was blue with two part of it sticking out on either side of his head resembling horns or maybe antennas, as well as a small section in the front falling into his face. His outfit was also rather strange; he had a long robe on exposing his chest (it looked a bit like something an emperor might wear) apart from that he had black pants and black boots. He looked a bit like one of the strange creatures in town, like them he also had long fingers ending in pointy nails. Though his fingers weren't quite as long. I couldn't tell if he had pointed ears though, because his hair was hiding the majority of his them.

He smiled politely. "Would you happen to be Sora?"

I nodded slowly. "Yep. Who're you?"

"Seymour Guado," he told me, bringing his hand up as if he were holding a ball and bowing. "It is a pleasure to meet you Sora."

I frowned. "How do you know my name?"

"That man who just left, asked me if I could help you," Seymour replied, in an almost eerily calm voice.

"Really?" I asked curiously. That surprised me for some reason. "So you're on our side then?"

Seymour nodded, an amused smile on his face. "Yes."

Seymour walked over to stand beside me by the railing and looked over the edge, his blue eyes sweeping over the rest of the town below. He looked back over at me.

"So," Seymour began. "Might I be of service in any way?"

"Sure!" I agreed, sticking my hands behind my head and grinning. "Come on, I'll take you to meet the other people on our side."

I began walking off towards the inn inside Guadosalam. Hmm, hadn't he said that his last name _was_ Guado?

I glanced at him; he was following along behind me looking around at the town with an unreadable expression on his face.

We reached the inn in a few short minutes. The owner was still at the counter, when he saw Seymour his eyes widened and he did the same bowing gesture that Seymour had done when introducing himself to me.

Seymour bowed his head in response.

"Good evening," Seymour greeted the man politely.

Braig was leaning against the wall in the entrance area of the inn. He scowled and walked over.

"Who's this?" Braig asked grumpily.

"This is Seymour," I told Braig. "Seymour this is Braig. Braig's uh—helping my friends and me." Actually, he really wasn't, but I didn't think I should say anything about that at the moment.

Seymour smiled, an unreadable expression on his face. "…Is that so?"

Braig's scowl deepened. "Yep."

Braig followed Seymour and I as I led him deeper into the inn.

Ienzo was speaking with Terra in a hall. They both appeared deep in their conversation. I wondered what they were talking about.

Terra looked over at us as we approached, he smiled. Ienzo looked over as well.

"Hello," Seymour greeted. "My name is Seymour. I was asked to help you and your companions out," Seymour paused, glancing at Terra, "By a man titled Master Eraqus."

Terra looked a bit surprised. "Really?"

Seymour nodded. "I was curious if I might be of help. I am a maester as well as the leader of the Guado."

"You are?" It was Ienzo's turn to look surprised.

"Yes," Seymour said. "Would you mind if I travel with you? I am willing to help out with anything that I can."

"By all means," Ienzo agreed, still slightly surprised. "We would be honored to have you help us."

I frowned. "So…is that what you people are? Guado?"

Seymour nodded, looking slightly amused. "Yes, though I am slightly different. You see my mother was a human whereas my father was a guado."

Oh, so _that _was why he didn't look quite the same as they did. I was a little surprised that I'd never heard of guado before now though.

"So when do we leave?" Seymour asked.

We all looked at Ienzo who frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

"Perhaps we should leave tomorrow," Ienzo said. "Quite a few people are already asleep."

"Agreed, tomorrow it is," Seymour said. "I suppose I will see you all in the morning then."

I waved as he turned around and left back out of the inn. At least now we knew where we were supposed to go, or at least Aqua did.


	19. Keyblade Wielders of the Past

Authors Note: I'm planning on writing a fanfic with the two young Keyblade wielders that appear in this chapter being two of the main characters, after I finish this story. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and please read and review. :)

Chapter Nineteen: Keyblade Wielders of the Past

"So now that we've successfully escaped, where are we off to now?" Axel inquired, eyeing the storm clouds overhead.

I could tell just by a single glance that we wouldn't want to be caught in the storm that was brewing overhead.

Axel, I wasn't sure what to think of him. He was a bit obnoxious that was for sure, granted nowhere near as much as Riku…but he was still annoying. Why exactly was I helping them again? I glanced over to where Xion was sitting, answering my question. Honestly, I couldn't understand what she saw in those two.

Traveling through time could be quite confusing sometimes. Xehanort had told me that often times when you leave a time you'd end up in the same exact world you left from only in a different time period. At least that's what happened if you didn't know what you were doing. He had said that if you focused hard enough on the image of the world you wanted to get to, the time portal would take you to that world in whatever time period you were going to. I'd practiced enough that I could usually end up where I wanted, but not always.

I walked over to Xion and sat down beside her. I glanced up at Axel, realizing that he still hadn't gotten an answer.

"I have no idea," I told him. I looked at Xion. "What do you think Xion?"

Xion continued to stare up at the sky, a slight frown on her face.

She had been lost in thought ever since we left The World that Never Was. I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with me. I really wasn't sure what I had been thinking yesterday. I guess just recently I had begun to see everything in a different light. And I had finally realized why I felt almost—what was the word, jealous maybe? Yeah, that was right. I had realized why I'd felt 'jealous' when Xion decided to go with Riku. I liked her, and not only just as a friend either. I knew that it didn't make much sense, but I couldn't help but feel as though she had chosen him over me. I looked down at my gloved hands and sighed. I had been hopeful that she felt the same way for me, but I wasn't so sure anymore. I mean why would she? I wasn't generally liked. I had thought about trying to bring it up with her again, but I had no idea on how. Not to mention the Unversed would probably just ruin everything again, like they always did.

I shook my head to clear it. Ugh, and I had been saying how Xion was lost in thought?

I reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Xion? What do you think we should do next?" I re-asked.

Xion looked over. "Umm, maybe we should go find Sora?" she suggested. Then her eyes lit up, as though she had just gotten an idea. "Or maybe we should track down the book that Xehanort had wanted and then take it to Sora."

"What book?" Riku asked at the same time that I dropped my hand from Xion's shoulder and muttered: "Oh please no."

Xion glanced at me and then at Riku.

"All I know is that it has something to do with Kingdom Hearts," Xion told him. "And that both Xemnas and Xehanort wanted it pretty badly."

Riku began pacing, looking lost in his thoughts, while Axel stopped his own pacing.

"Well, I guess we should see what it is at least," Riku said after a moment.

I put my head in my hands and groaned.

"We have absolutely no idea where to find it, none whatsoever," I grumbled. "Xion and I had been looking for it before _you_ came along. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Everyone was silent after that, including Axel. Though I wasn't sure on how much he understood. And even though Xion _thought_ he could be trusted, _I_ still thought he was a spy. Amazingly, Riku had agreed with me on that.

"Vanitas? Remember when we went to The Land of Departure and you were pretty sure that it would be there?" Xion asked.

Reluctantly, I brought my hands away from my face, and looked at her. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Maybe we should go to The Land of Departure in a time period before that," Xion suggested.

Riku stopped pacing and crossed his arms. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

I frowned. "Me as well. We should probably go to a time period before my own. Preferably before Xehanort was even around, or at least when he was still young."

Riku nodded, agreeing with me. Even though we seriously didn't get along, for some reason we kept agreeing about things. I really had no legit reason for disliking Riku, even though I felt like I did.

Axel clapped his gloved hands together.

"So we're traveling through time again? Great!" Axel exclaimed.

I was curious why was he so excited about going through time. I mean he'd landed on his face after going through the last time portal. And with the effects the time portals had on people, I was a bit surprised he'd be so anxious to repeat it again so soon.

I looked up as a raindrop hit my face. Almost as soon as the first drop fell it had begun pouring down in sheets, thoroughly soaking Riku and I. Xion and Axel remained dry since they had their Organization XIII coats on. It was too bad that I'd lost my backpack, or else I could have pulled out my own coat. But then again even if I _had_ had my coat with me it probably would have been to late. My hair was already entirely saturated, as were my clothes. It looked like I was just going to have to deal with being wet for the time being.

I got to my feet and looked over at Riku.

"How about we leave now?" I suggested, hoping he'd agree since he was also getting wet. "Do we really want to stand here catching colds?"

Xion got up right behind me, her booted feet squeaking loudly on the wet ground.

"Sure, we can leave now," Xion said. "Vanitas could you open the time portal? I'm not the best at operating them, and you seem to have a better idea of what time period we need to get to."

I nodded, and walked a few paces away from them. "Alright."

It took me a moment to decide on where to go back to. Once I had made up my mind I focused and opened the time portal.

This time Riku offered to go through first. I don't think he trusted me enough to let me go first, worried that I would either abandon them or call Xehanort. He had tried to take away the device that would allow me to speak with Xehanort; I hadn't let him though. Xion had convinced him to let me hold on to it, saying that she trusted me.

Axel left next then Xion stepped up to it. She paused and glanced back over shoulder at the barren wasteland that we had resided in almost the whole day.

"What is it Xion?" I asked.

"What world do you think this is?" Xion asked, her indigo blue eyes now resting on my face.

I crossed my arms and looked around, thinking. I had a pretty good idea which world it was. For some reason when I had opened up the time portal in The World that Never Was, I hadn't been able to get the image of Xion and I eating ice cream on top of the clock-tower in Twilight Town out of my head.

"I can't be sure," I began, frowning slightly. "But I _think_ this is actually Twilight Town. It's hard to tell with all of the storm clouds, but I'm quite sure it's been twilight a bit too long."

Xion nodded. "You're right." She then went through the portal.

I looked up, the raindrops hitting my face. _Was_ I doing the right thing?

…

I stumbled out of the portal and into Axel. He grabbed my shoulders, steadying me.

"You okay there, Xion?" Axel asked. "Those portals are really something else. I'm _still_ feeling dizzy."

I smiled up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Axel let go of my shoulders and I stepped forward, eyeing the world we now were in. Unlike in the past Twilight Town and The World that Never Was, the sun was shining in The Land of Departure. It was setting. I blinked and looked down; the sun and blue eyes didn't mix.

For some reason I had been expecting The Land of Departure to look really different from when I had seen it. But it looked very much the same. Except for one major thing, it wasn't crumbling in this time period. And I could make out a faint light coming from one of the windows towards the top of the castle, meaning it was inhabited.

Riku stood a short way ahead of me also staring up at the one lit window, curiosity filling his gaze.

I was pretty curious as well. What Keyblade wielder(s) would we find in this time period? I really hoped Xehanort wasn't there.

I heard footfalls behind me and a moment later I heard the sound of the time portal being closed, meaning that Vanitas had come through the portal.

Vanitas walked up and stood beside me. He looked around, surveying the way The Land of Departure looked in this past time period. He then also glanced up at the bright window.

"Let's go," Riku said, walking up the stone steps.

I followed him, Vanitas to my right and Axel right behind me.

Riku raised his hand as if to knock and then hesitated. He then brought his hand down upon the door twice.

We waited in silence for nearly five minutes. Vanitas let out a sigh and walked over to where Riku was standing beside the door.

Vanitas knocked four times, much louder then Riku had. Then we waited while another few minutes passed.

"Maybe know one's home?" Axel suggested.

"I'm beginning to wonder that myself," Riku agreed. He lifted his hand to open the door just as I heard a chain sliding across it. Riku immediately lowered his hand.

Finally the door opened and a young teenage boy poked his head out. He looked to be between the ages twelve and fourteen. With ebony colored hair and brown eyes that widened upon seeing all of us.

"Eraqus?" A voice asked, coming from behind the dark haired teen. "Who's there?"

So the ebony haired teen was Eraqus. I wouldn't have recognized him. But I guess that wasn't surprising considering that he was a lot younger and I'd only seen him once.

Eraqus swung the door further open. Behind him stood another teenager, he had gray hair, tanned skin and his eyes were almost the precise shade that Vanitas's were. He had a pleasant air about him, yet something about him set me on edge. Maybe because he reminded me of Xemnas.

The gray haired teen smiled at all of us politely.

"Hello," he said. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes, I think so." Riku looked over his shoulder at me. "We're looking for a book."

The gray haired teen raised an eyebrow.

"A book?" he repeated, looking slightly surprised.

Eraqus reached up and cupped his hand around the other teens' ear, whispering something to him that I couldn't make out. The gray haired teen frowned for a moment and then nodded.

The gray haired teen swung both of the large doors open, and then stood to the side. Eraqus also stepped back.

"Would you care to come inside?" the gray haired teen asked.

"Thanks," Riku said, offering him a smile before stepping into the castle.

Vanitas followed Riku, eyeing the gray haired teen as he passed. Once we were all inside Eraqus swung the doors shut.

I looked around the large entryway we stood in. It also looked much the same as when I had last seen it, except it was completely intact.

"My name's Eraqus," Eraqus informed us, holding his hand out to Riku. "What's your name?"

Riku shook his hand. "Riku."

Eraqus turned to Vanitas, holding his hand out once more. "What's your name?" he asked.

While Vanitas introduced himself, the gray haired teen walked up to me.

"My name is Xehanort. I'm an apprentice here, as is Eraqus," the gray haired teen told me. "What's your name?"

So he was Xehanort. That must have been why he reminded me of Xemnas. I had really been hoping that he wouldn't be in this world.

"Xion," I said, reluctantly shaking his hand.

"You mean… You guys can wield Keyblades too?!" Eraqus exclaimed from behind me. He had been speaking with Riku and Vanitas, one of them probably told him that we could.

Xehanort looked at me surprise and delight lighting up his face.

"Can you?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"That's so cool!" Eraqus exclaimed excitedly. "Our Master didn't think there were any other Keyblade wielders left, well besides us and one other Keyblade Master and his apprentices. He's going to be so surprised!"

"Is your Keyblade Master here?" Vanitas asked.

"No he isn't," Xehanort responded. "He had some errands to run. He probably won't be back for a few more days."

"Hey are you guys hungry?" Eraqus asked. "We were just about to make dinner."

"Yeah, or at least I am," Axel said, speaking for the first time. He looked like he felt sort of out of place.

"Okay, I hope you guys like enchiladas," Eraqus said grinning.

…

Axel and Eraqus went with Eraqus into their enormous kitchen, while Riku and Vanitas spoke with Xehanort. I had offered to help Eraqus cook. I didn't trust Xehanort even though he did seem decent in this time period.

Eraqus had given me cheese and a grater, so I was currently grating cheese, while Eraqus made the sauce. Axel stood next to the counter watching us.

"How old are you, Eraqus?" I asked.

"Fourteen, but I'll be fifteen next month," Eraqus told me. "How about you?"

I frowned, thinking. I was guessing that it had been about a year since I had left the Organization.

"Sixteen," I said.

Eraqus looked up at Axel, now stirring all of the ingredients in the sauce together.

"How old are you, Axel?" Eraqus asked, his tone curious.

"Oh come on!" Axel grumbled. "That's not a polite question to ask an adult." He shook his finger at Eraqus.

I giggled and then looked over at Eraqus again.

"How old is Xehanort?" I asked.

"He's eighteen," Eraqus responded, grabbing some corn tortillas. "But most of the time I don't think he acts like it."

Vanitas appeared in the entrance of the kitchen; he glanced briefly at the food before walking over to me.

"We're going to go look through their library," Vanitas told me. "Want to come Xion?"

"Umm, maybe in a minute," I said. "I'm helping Eraqus."

"Okay," Vanitas said. He then headed back towards the entrance to the kitchen. He paused in the entryway and turned around, looking at Axel. "Axel, you don't seem to be helping very much, how about you go help them look for the book and _I'll_ help cook."

Axel chuckled. "You know how to cook Vanitas?"

Vanitas glared at him. "I doubt _you_ do."

"Fine, whatever," Axel said, heading out of the kitchen. "See you later, Xion."

"Bye," I said, smiling after him. Since I was finished with grating the cheese I began making a salad to go with it.

Vanitas came over and stood beside me, he watched me for a moment before turning to Eraqus.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Vanitas asked him.

Eraqus frowned, his expression thoughtful.

"Well, I was going to make a milkshake…" Eraqus replied. "Would you like to make that?"

Vanitas shrugged. "Sure. What flavor?"

"Chocolate of course!" Eraqus grinned. "…Unless you don't like it, then you can choose whatever flavor you like."

"Chocolate's fine," Vanitas muttered.

We all worked in silence until Eraqus had the enchiladas in the oven, Vanitas had the milkshake done, and I had finished the salad.

"It's going to take a little while to cook," Eraqus informed us. "Should we go see what the others are doing?"

"Sure," I replied.

Eraqus led the way through the castle, I was really surprised at how big it was; there were so many more areas in it that Vanitas and I hadn't looked through.

Vanitas fell into step beside me. He caught my eye and smiled.

"What do you think of this place?" Vanitas asked, gesturing around the castle. "Very different from the last time we saw it, eh?"

"Yeah, it sure is," I agreed, wholeheartedly. "It looks really cool."

Eraqus glanced back over his shoulder at us and grinned.

"I'm glad you like it," he told me. "I know when I first saw it I thought it was pretty cool too."

Eraqus had reached a large door; the door-handle on it was golden. He swung it open and smiled back at me.

"Here's the library," he announced, stepping inside.

I followed him in, my eyes widening in surprise upon seeing it. The library was enormous, it was far larger then the one in The Castle that Never Was. There was even a sort of second floor to it! I sighed; it would take forever to look through.

I scanned the library looking for the Riku, Xehanort, and Axel. I spotted Riku on the second floor; he was looking through a bookshelf. Xehanort was also up there, helping him. I frowned, where was Axel?

"Hey Xion!"

I looked around the bottom floor of the library. Axel was sitting at a table, with probably fifty ancient looking books spread before him. He waved at me and grinned.

"Wanna help?" he asked, sounding rather hopeful.

"Sure!" I responded. I walked over to him and sat down at the table he was at.

"Dig in," Axel told me, gesturing at the mess of books piled in front of him.

I picked up a book and read the front cover before setting it aside. For some reason I didn't think a book about animals could have anything to do with Kingdom Hearts.

Vanitas pulled a chair out beside me and sat down. He began looking through the books as well.

Vanitas let out a sigh after tossing the tenth book he'd looked at aside.

"For some reason I don't think we're going to find it here either," Vanitas told me.

I couldn't help but agree.

"What is this book about?" Eraqus asked, sitting in a chair beside Axel. He glanced at the piles of old books in front of us. "I'm guessing it's an old book."

Vanitas leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"It's supposed to be," Vanitas told him. "I've heard that it has something to do with Kingdom Hearts. Have you heard of that?"

Eraqus nodded. "Yeah." His eyes lit up. "Wait! I think I know which book you're talking about!"

I looked at him, surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah," Eraqus told me excitedly. "My master told me about it. It's a book that has all of Kingdom Hearts's secrets."

Vanitas nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds about right."

I looked up as I heard Riku and Xehanort coming down from the second level in the library. Upon reaching the bottom floor Riku came over and stood beside me while Xehanort walked over to his fellow apprentice, his expression surprised.

Were we finally going to find the book? I really hoped so.

"Are you sure?" Xehanort asked. "I don't remember hearing of any such book."

"You probably weren't paying any attention. You never do when it comes to history," Eraqus told him, a teasing glint in his eye, and then his face fell. "The book's gone though."

Vanitas scowled and crossed his arms. "It's gone? Figures."

"What happened to it?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. I had been so hopeful that we would find it.

"Our Keyblade master said it was stolen, long ago. He'd never seen it," Eraqus told me. "Sorry."

Eraqus got to his feet and headed towards the door of the library, Xehanort following him.

"The food should be about done," Eraqus told us. "Let's go eat."

Riku and Vanitas followed the other two out of the library. Axel got to his feet and stretched, staring after them as he went.

"You like him don't you?" Axel inquired, looking back at me curiously, a knowing look in his eye.

"Wh—who? What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused, though I had a pretty good idea on whom he was referring to. I felt my cheeks redden, and looked away quickly.

Axel chuckled softly. "Vanitas. I can tell by the expression on your face when you look at him." Axel was grinning now. "He certainly likes you. Just…be careful 'kay? There's something strange about him. Not to mention he's the spitting image of Sora."

With that Axel walked away, most likely heading to the kitchen where everyone else was.

I looked down at the ground, wondering what had given him that impression. _I_ wasn't sure myself on how I felt about Vanitas. Though I was really glad that we weren't enemies anymore. I felt oddly attached to him, though I wasn't quite sure on why.

Drawing in a breath to calm down, I left the library and made my way back to the kitchen.

…

Vanitas grinned at me as I once I had reached the kitchen. "Hey Xion, the food's done."

I smiled back and took a seat beside him at the long table. I looked around the kitchen; Axel, Riku, Xehanort and Eraqus were all talking on the other side of it.

"Riku thinks we should leave first thing tomorrow and try to find Sora," Vanitas told me quietly. "What do you think?"

I shrugged. "That's fine with me." I looked up at him, something worrying me. "Vanitas…are you going to keep helping us?"

Vanitas got a strange look in his eye and looked down, not meeting my eye.

"…For now," Vanitas muttered under his breath.

I continued to watch him. "I'd really like if you would stay. You're one of my best friends Vanitas…maybe my _best_ friend nowadays."

Vanitas finally met my eyes, surprise glistening in his yellow ones. "Really? You still consider me your friend? I thought…"

I smiled at him and opened my mouth to speak just as Axel put the enchiladas down on the table.

"All done!" he announced, grinning at me. "Want some on your plate?"

"Umm, thanks Axel," I said, I held up a glass plate that was in front of me and Axel spooned some out on top of it.

"How 'bout you Vanitas?" Axel asked.

Without answering Vanitas held up his plate while Riku, Xehanort and Eraqus took places at the table. Xehanort sat directly across from me.

We all ate in silence, until Eraqus decided to break it. "So, who's your guys' Keyblade Master?"

I took a sip of my milkshake. And looked over at Riku, he was looking at Eraqus.

"Yen Sid," Riku told him.

Xehanort scowled. "That name sounds so familiar…"

"Maybe our Keyblade Master mentioned him at some point in time." Eraqus shrugged.

Once everyone was done eating and had cleaned up, Xehanort and Eraqus led us back through the castle to some rooms that were for guests, even though they said that they had never gotten any.

They led us up several flights of stairs and down a hall; they paused towards the end of it.

"Okay there's five rooms in this hall, choose whichever ones you like," Eraqus told us. Eraqus headed back down the hallway, waving back at us as he went. "I'll see you guys later."

Xehanort smiled and began back down the hall as well. "Good night."

I watched him go, I couldn't help but wonder if he was up to something. He _was_ Xehanort.

"'Night," Axel said, walking through the door that was closest to him.

Vanitas placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me, happiness showing in his eyes. "Good night Xion. I'll see you tomorrow."

I smiled back at him. "Good night Vanitas."

Vanitas headed to another door, Riku waved and went into a different one.

I entered into a door right behind me, and looked around. It was a very nice room, yet simple. I liked it a lot more then the one I had had inside The World that Never Was.

I went over and sat down on the bed. What was going to happen after we finished whatever our mission was? Would I just…disappear again? I felt scared. I really hadn't given it much thought until then. But I supposed that I probably would. I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes, waiting to fall asleep.


	20. Islands from the Past

Authors Note: I had really meant to have this chapter up a bit sooner. But unfortunately I was delayed. Anyhow, as always, please read and review. Thanks!

Chapter Twenty: Islands from the Past

I plopped down in a chair beside Lea. Why Ienzo thought that we should get up while it was still dark I had no clue. But he insisted that the earlier the better. If Seymour wasn't awake yet I was seriously going to be upset. Beside me I heard Lea start to snore softly, he was slumped over with his face pressed against the cool surface of the table. I looked behind me as I heard someone walk up. It was Isa; he looked at Lea and shook his head irritably, he glanced at me, amusement written all over his face.

"Honestly, you'd think that he'd never woken up this early before," Isa said, rolling his eyes. He pulled out a chair on the other side of me and sat down, his eyes scanning all of the fancy decorations upon it. It was fancy enough to make me feel uncomfortable near it. Lea didn't seem to think so though; I mean he was already laying his head on it, while I was still afraid to touch it.

Everyone around me was talking, but I couldn't quite concentrate on what they were saying. Especially considering how many conversations were going on then. Across from me Kairi was talking to Aqua and Ven. Isa was now speaking with David and Terra, Marluxia and Larxene had their heads together and were…laughing? That was kind of scary… Braig and Dilan were both speaking to Ienzo by the door; Even was over by a shelf looking through stuff that didn't belong to him, and Demyx, like Lea, was snoring. I glanced over at a clock that hung high up on a wall across from me. We had now been waiting for Seymour to show up inside his dining room for over twenty minutes. If he didn't show up soon I was likely going to fall asleep sitting up in one of his chairs.

Just as I started to nod off the first Guado we had seen upon coming to this world walked up (I recently found out that his name was Tromell) he thrust a cup of something hot into my hand. I quickly turned it to the side so that I was gripping the handle. I looked up at Tromell a tad bit more awake now. He grinned at me.

"The Maester thought you all might enjoy some refreshments, Mr. Sora," Tromell said. "I figured you and your friends might like enjoy hot cocoa on this cold day. I've added plenty of sugar."

"Thanks Tromell," I told him. I gave him my best grin. "Is Maester Seymour almost ready?"

"Yes, he will be out in just a minute," Tromell said. "He had a few things to take care of first."

I nodded, and lifted my cup to take a sip. The minute it was in my mouth I _really_ wanted to spit it out. It tasted _awful_. I'd always thought that hot cocoa was a universal thing, but it tasted disgusting. I could hardly even taste the chocolate at all, and it wasn't sweet. There were quite a few extra flavors in it that I couldn't place, besides as bitter. I felt my eyes water, and it took all of my willpower not to spit it out. I looked up at Tromell and he beamed at me.

"Do you like it?" Tromell asked.

I nodded and forced myself to swallow it. Tromell seemed pretty nice and I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Yeah! It's umm—really tasty," I told him. "The best hot cocoa I've ever had."

Tromell walked away with the tray of cocoa looking very pleased. He handed one to each person in the room then he left.

Lea had woken up when Tromell put a cup of coffee in front of him. Both Isa and Lea took a sip around the same time, there reactions were different but they both had the same look of horror on their faces. However Isa swallowed his mouthful whereas Lea spat it back out, spraying Marluxia (who was across the table from him) and me with the yucky cocoa. Ugh, I grabbed a napkin from across the table and saw the look on Marluxia's face. His expression was somewhere between enraged and horrified. I laughed, and Marluxia gave me a death glare, then he pushed his chair back from the table and stormed out of the room. He came back only a moment later though, followed by an amused Seymour.

"Lea that was utterly _disgusting_," Isa told his friend, grumpily.

Seymour walked over to the table; he scanned it then chuckled. "I see Tromell has made you his famous hot cocoa. It is interesting, is it not?"

Well, interesting was one way of putting it. I was glad that Seymour had come though; hopefully we would all be leaving soon. I didn't like being in Guadosalam very much. I liked being able to see the sun.

"If you are all quite finished, shall we be leaving then?" Seymour asked, addressing the room at large.

Ienzo pushed his chair back from the table and stood. "I believe so. Are you ready Aqua?"

"Yes," Aqua replied, she got to her feet as well. Aqua walked around the table and held out her hand, a determined expression on her face. A moment later a time portal appeared and she lowered her hand and turned back to look at all of us.

"Okay, it's ready," Aqua said. "This _should_ take us to the right place."

I got up and walked over to her. The sooner we put a stop to Xehanort the better. Especially now that I was wide awake. That cocoa had _really_ woken me up.

Aqua left first with Terra, and the rest of us followed a minute later. I fell out of the portal and into sand. I sat back and wiped the sand from my face. At least I didn't feel that dizzy this time, or at least not as much as I normally did. I looked up as Ventus held out a hand to help me up. I grabbed it and hopped to my feet. Kairi ran over to where I was, a wide grin on her face.

"Sora! We're on Destiny Island!" Kairi exclaimed, her eyes shining.

Terra looked back at us. "This is your home world?"

"Yes, it definitely is," Kairi told him.

I looked around. She was right; we _were_ on Destiny Islands. Only it looked completely different. I knew that we had gone to the past but what was strange was that it looked more modern then my time period. All of the buildings were much larger; they resembled the ones in Twilight Town. But, even though it was completely different, it was still nice to be home.

"Ugh, it's so hot here," Demyx whined from somewhere to my right. I looked over at him; he had his arm slung over his Sitar and a deep scowl on his face. "I'm gonna get all _sweaty._"

Seymour glanced over at him then looked up at the sun rising. "What is it that we're supposed to be finding?"

"I'm not sure exactly," Aqua replied. "All Master Eraqus told me was that it's something that can help us stop Xehanort."

I looked around when I heard some trees behind me rustle, it hadn't sounded like it was the wind that rustled them. Someone behind me gasped, it sounded like Braig. I quickly turned around; someone was holding a spear to Braig's neck. Actually there was someone holding a spear in front of almost everyone in our group, apart from me, Kairi, Aqua, Terra and Ventus. It seemed like there was some connection between all of us but I couldn't think of what. I pulled out my Keyblade and stood ready to help. What was going on?

"Hey, hey!" Braig exclaimed, taking a step backwards. "There's nothing to get all excited over!"

Ienzo calmly held up his hands. "We aren't here to fight. Could we discuss this, please?"

Another person strode forward, he was dressed differently then the other people pointing weapons at us, higher class. He walked up to me; his gaze lingered on my Keyblade before turning to my face. He opened his mouth and a long stream of words flew out. I frowned, tightening my hands on my Keyblade; I couldn't understand what he had said. He'd spoken in another language, one I'd never heard spoken before.

"Umm—what did you say?" Kairi asked from beside me.

The man looked at her, and scowled. He looked around the clearing at all of the people pointing their weapons at us. He spoke again, and they all nodded in assent. They then began leading my companions away, towards the town.

Even paused in his walking and glared at the person pointing a spear at him. "I will _not_ have you pointing that stick thing at me!"

"We're not causing any trouble," Lea told them, even though they couldn't understand him.

"Yeah people," Demyx said, pulling out his Sitar. "Don't be mad."

The person who was leading Demyx stared at the Sitar momentarily before saying a loud stream of words and poking Demyx with his spear. Demyx leaped back, rubbing his cheek where they had hit him.

"Hey! Why'd you do that?! That hurt!" Demyx complained while his Sitar faded away. He looked down at where it had been. "What happened to my Sitar?!"

Ienzo frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together. "As I had thought. They're weapons contain magic, allowing them to seal away our weapons." Ienzo looked around at all of us. "I suggest you don't try to fight them, unless you want to lose your weapons."

Even scowled and crossed his arms, but he allowed them to continue leading him forward. "Then what do you suggest we do, Ienzo? Allow them to do whatever they want with us?"

Isa looked over at me curiously. "I wonder why they're not pointing their weapons at the Keyblade wielders."

So that was what the connection was! They weren't pointing weapons at any of us Keyblade wielders. I wondered why… Did they _know_ about Keyblade wielders? And how had they known before I had even pulled out my Keyblade? I didn't understand what was going on at all.

After several more minutes they had led everyone (except for me, Terra, Aqua, Ventus and Kairi) away through the trees. Only the one person who looked like the leader remained behind. He smiled politely at me.

"Greeting my young Keyblade wielder," he spoke. I stared at him, surprised that he was speaking English. He had a very strange accent though. I could barely understand him. "Is there something I can do for you and your friends?"

Terra and Aqua slowly made their way over to me. Ventus was already beside me, as was Kairi.

"Umm…could you release my other friends?" I asked after a moment.

The man frowned, his large eyebrows creeping together. "Your other friends? You mean the ones my men led off? I'm afraid I can't do that young friend, at least, not until they are properly interrogated. I know it may seem harsh to you, but we have had trouble with outsiders as of late, I am sorry. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

I hesitated, thinking. Maybe he could help us find the thing that could stop Xehanort?

"I know, why don't you and your fellow Keyblade wielders come with me to my castle? We can discuss matters there." the man asked.

"Are you a king?" Terra asked, looking the man up and down. I frowned; he certainly looked like it, with his fancy clothes and all.

The man smiled kindly at him. "Ah, some people do call me that yes. However, I am simply the leader of Destiny Islands. Now, would you all like to come?"

Aqua took a step forward, her gaze hard. "Do we have a choice?"

The mans' scowl only deepened. "I should be very pleased if you decide to come with me, however, I will not force you. The wielders of the Keyblade are always welcome on my islands. However it has been quite sometime since I have been visited by one."

"Could you give us one moment to decide?" Terra asked. The man nodded.

I frowned, though I did lower my Keyblade slightly. Terra grabbed me by the arm and pulled me a few feet away; Kairi, Aqua and Ventus followed us. I put my Keyblade away, and crossed my arms. I wondered what the man was going to do with the members of Organization XIII; I was surprised that I actually considered some of them my friends now. Not all of them, but a few. I looked up at Terra, curious what he thought we should do.

"I don't trust him," Terra muttered under his breath. "There's something strange about him."

Aqua frowned and raised her eyebrows. "Really? Because I actually thought he was telling the truth Terra."

Terra looked at me, his expression uneasy. "What do you think we should do Sora?"

I hesitated. I was kinda with Terra about not trusting the man, but that was just because he locked everyone else up. Other than that I thought he sounded like he was telling the truth.

"Well, maybe we should go with him, maybe he knows about the thing that can help us defeat Xehanort," I said, glancing at Aqua as I spoke.

Ventus put his arms behind his head (in the same way that I always did) and watched us, his expression thoughtful.

"I'm with Sora, at least it's a place to start," Ven said. "Not to mention we might be able to help the rest of our friends out."

I nodded, agreeing with him and glanced at Kairi. She also looked thoughtful.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," she said.

Terra sighed and looked at Aqua. "Do you think so too?"

Aqua smiled at him and nodded. "Yes Terra. That man's the leader of this world, I think he really might know something."

Terra shook his head and walked back over to the man, who watched him approach with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Okay, we'll come with you," Terra informed him. "Which way are we headed?"

The man beamed. "Wonderful! Follow me dear friends, I shall lead you to my humble home."

…

I paced in circles around the prison cell, trying to think of a way to escape. So far, nothing had occurred to me. The others had given up, and instead sat around the dim cell, conversing with one another. Or most people were, apart from Even whom insisted on spending his time annoying me with his mutterings. He had not stopped complaining since we had reached the cell. What I could not understand was why he was directing his griping at _me._ If he were smart, he would speak to his brother instead. Though I thought of the scientist as a sort of uncle figure, his grumblings had put my teeth on edge. I was trying quite hard to ignore him, though with his loud incessant talking, it was rather hard to do. However, I had managed to bite my tongue against asking him to quit it, I knew from experience that asking him to stop would only make his stream of words worse. I scowled and began another round of the cell, pausing on the far end away from Even.

The only thing I hoped for at this point was that Sora and the other Keyblade wielders would get us out of this damp cell. However, I was slightly worried that they might decide to leave all of us in the cell, partly because several people there were spies for Xemnas. I frowned, eyeing Dilan and the Braig. Perhaps it _was_ better that we were stuck in this awful cell, if Sora and the other Keyblade wielders found the object that could stop Xehanort, then it was better that the spies did not know the details. Tired of pacing, I sat down as far from Even as I could manage, which happened to be beside Isa and Lea, whom were speaking in low voices. They both looked at me when I sat.

"Any ideas Ienzo?" Isa asked curiously. "Or are we trapped?"

I scowled and crossed my arms. "It would seem that we're trapped for the time being. Though perhaps the others will come back for us."

Isa nodded and went back to speaking with Lea. I looked up at the ceiling, I didn't hear Even any longer so perhaps he had finally given up complaining to me. I was rather glad, if I had had to listen for much longer I was worried that I might go crazy, something I really didn't want to have happen.

"Hey Ienzo!" Braig whisper-yelled from a short distance away. I slowly dragged my gaze from the ceiling and looked over at him. He waved me over. I scowled, but got to my feet anyway. I made my way over to him and sat down. Dilan was on his other side, watching me with a frown on his face. When I had been younger I got along fairly well with all of Ansem the Wise's apprentices, except for Dilan. I wouldn't say that we _didn't_ get along, just that we had never really spoken. When I had been younger, Ansem had seemed sort of like a father figure, while Even was like my uncle, whom while he was annoying always seemed to be watching out for me. Braig also seemed like an uncle, one that you never listened to, since he never had good advice. Lexaeus was almost like a much older brother or uncle as well, he always had patience for me and out of everyone else he would actually play with me. Now Dilan was always just there, he was constantly grumpy so I tended to avoid him. It was funny to think back on how I had labeled them all when I was younger, as members of my family.

I looked at Braig. "Yes Braig? What can I do for you?"

"I just think you're making the wrong choice," Braig told me. As I had thought, he was once again, going to try to get me to join Xehanort; he was just taking a different route this time. It was times like that when I wished people would learn to take 'no' for an answer. I was not going to change my mind. And I was beginning to think that I should just announce that Braig and Dilan were spies to everyone in the room. I sighed, looking down at my gloved hands.

"You know my answer Braig, I wish _you_ would reconsider," I told him irritably.

"Xehanort's gonna win you know," Braig said, as if that fact would change my mind.

"Since when has Xehanort beaten Sora, Braig?" I asked.

Braig scowled and crossed his arms grumpily. "He's got a better plan this time. You know that. With backup plans as well."

I glanced over, somewhat surprised as Even sat down beside me. He glared at Braig with resentment; they didn't get along very well.

"Are you seriously _still_ trying to brainwash Ienzo?" Even asked, his tone still agitated. "He's quite stubborn you know."

Braig rolled his eyes and got to his feet. "Yeah, I've noticed. As if_ you_ aren't as well."

Even scowled and crossed his arms. "I don't like him, he thinks he can just waltz in here and tell everyone what to do! Oh the_ nerve_!"

I raised my eyebrows. At least Even was smart enough not to just blindly follow Xehanort. He had downright refused to join Xehanort, though he had agreed not to tell Sora what the Keyblade Master was planning. I leaned my head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. I wished to pull out my book, but I was afraid that someone would block me from being able to pull it out if I needed to fight. Demyx _still_ could not use his Sitar, something he was moping about in the far corner of the dank cell. Oh I r_eally_ hoped someone would let us out soon.

…

"_This_ is your home," I asked, turning in a slow circle just inside his house. Only it wasn't a house exactly, it was more like a castle. Or mansion. It was bigger then Disney Castle! I couldn't think of any other word for it besides, wow. It was so _big!_ And fancy! I carefully stepped further into the elaborate, wide entryway, my eyes as wide as sand dollars. I'd seriously never seen anything quite this nice before. The floor was some kind of marble, I was slightly worried that I might slip and fall down on it. The walls were also extremely shiny with silver marking on it. The hall was also wider then seven of my bedrooms!

"Not very humble is it?" Terra asked, eyeing a chandelier overhead. "Honestly sir, I can see why some people like to call you a king."

The man chuckled softly. "Do you like it?"

"Oh yes," Kairi said, smiling brightly. "It's a beautiful place."

The man beamed again, and then turned to me. "So, is there something I might help you with, my dear Key-wielding friends?"

I tore my gaze away from the chandelier and focused on the king-like man before me. I stepped forward, eager to see if he could help us.

"Well you see, we're looking for something to stop this really evil Keyblade wielder, we know it's somewhere in this world," I informed him everything flying out of my mouth. "And we _really_ need to find it."

Terra looked over at me, a slight frown on his face. Apparently he still didn't trust the man. I knew it wasn't a good idea to just trust strangers, but we really needed help finding the thing that could stop Xehanort.

The man appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm, I see…do you know what it is?"

"Nope," Terra said, shaking his head.

"But you're sure it's here? Well, at least that's a start," the man said.

"My master had said that it was something old," Aqua said, stepping forward. "Something made a long time ago by a Keyblade master. Do you have any ideas?"

The man put a hand to his chin and frowned thoughtfully. He then began pacing in a circle by his large double doors. I watched him, as did Ventus beside me. I wondered what Ven was thinking, he'd been awfully silent on our way to the man's house, and he still hadn't said a word. His serious gaze followed the man as he continued walking in circles.

"There is one place, a place that contains many old artifacts and such," the man told us. "It's not far from here… Would you like me to take you there?"

Terra nodded. "That would be nice, thanks."

"Marvelous!" the man exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

Ven frowned, his eyebrows creeping together. He hesitated before walking up to the man, his indigo blue eyes hard.

"One thing first," Ven began, still watching the man suspiciously. "I want you to promise that you won't hurt our other friends."

The man's smile faded slowly, before coming back. "Of course not, dear boy. Just so long as they aren't with the dark side. As I said before, once I am sure that they are not here to spy on me, or cause other mayhem I will let them go with a full apology."

I headed back to the double doors again, Terra following me, but Ventus didn't move, he was still glaring at the king like man, his fists clinched together. I turned away from the door. I wondered why Ven wasn't following us yet.

"You didn't promise, _sir_," Ven grumbled. "I won't leave till you do."

The man laughed, and placed both hands on Ventus's shoulders. "You are a funny one. All right, I swear. I will not harm your friends."

Ven took a step back, and nodded hesitantly. "Okay. Thanks."

…

Like the man had said, it didn't take very long to reach our destination. It was a small cave, hidden away from prying eyes. The opening was pretty small, and I didn't think that the man or Terra could get through. Come to think of it, I wasn't entirely sure that _I_ could fit in there either. Ven bent down on his hands and knees and peered inside. He scooted backwards after a moment and stood, wiping the sand off of his hands.

"I can't see in there very well," Ventus told Terra. "It's too dark."

Terra crouched down next to the opening. "Sorry guys, it doesn't look like I can fit in there." He looked back at the man. "It doesn't look like you can either. Have you been down there before?"

The man shook his head. "No, I'm afraid that I haven't. I have only been able to send younger and smaller people into that cave."

"I guess you have to wait up here then Terra," Aqua said. She patted his shoulder, a grim smile on her face. "We'll be right back." She glanced over her shoulder at the man, and then leaned forward, and I could barely here her whisper in Terra's ear to be careful.

Terra nodded. "You as well." He then looked at Kairi, Ven and me. "All of you."

With that the all of us (apart from Terra and the man) went into the cave. We walked down a narrow tunnel that we had to crawl through; upon reaching the end of it we came to a large circular room. It didn't look anything like you would expect a cave to. The entire area was crystal, and I had thought that the man's castle was pretty! This was amazing! Behind me, I heard Kairi draw in a breath when she first entered from the tunnel.

"This is so, beautiful!" Kairi exclaimed, looking around in awe. I could actually make out her expression since there was something lit up in the center of the room. I frowned and looked closer. A sort of pedestal resided in the center of the room, lighting it up, and there was something on top of it that I couldn't make out. I slowly approached the center of the room, the others following after me.

I stopped about two feet from the pedestal and looked at what was on top of it. It was a book. It looked like a very dull book, it was a light brown color, with a...symbol of Kingdom Hearts on it? What kind of book was it? I walked the rest of the way forward and put my hand on top of it. Nothing happened so I closed both of my hands around it started to lift it. But…it was too heavy. I literally couldn't lift it! I looked at Aqua.

"I can't lift it. Could you help me Aqua?" I asked.

Aqua walked up to the pedestal and attempted to help me lift the book. After a moment she frowned and stepped back.

"Strange, it has some kind of magic barrier on it," Aqua told me. "It must be something important. I wonder if there's any kind of magic that I can use to break the barrier placed on it."

Ven frowned and stepped forward. "Do you think it's the thing we were looking for? I mean, it has the Kingdom Hearts symbol on it."

"I was wondering that," Aqua muttered.

We all stared at the book for a moment, unsure on what to do next. Ventus put his hands on the book and looked up at us.

"Want me to try one more time?" Ven asked. I nodded, as did Aqua, so he pulled on it. We all stared as Ven fell to the floor, the large, almost ordinary looking book, clutched in his hands.

"Ven! Are you okay?" Aqua asked. She walked over to him and helped him back to his feet.

Ven nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Hey! I got the book!"

"Good job Ven!" I said, happily. I wondered why he had been able to get the book off of the pedestal, but hey, at least someone had.

"I wonder why—" Aqua began, her expression troubled, she then pulled out her Keyblade, looking into the shadows of the room. "Oh no, I was wrong."

"Indeed you were, miss _Aqua_," the leader of Destiny Islands said, stepping out from the corner of the room. "Were you wondering why your dear little friend was the only one that could lift the book?" He watched Aqua's expression for a moment, before nodding to himself. "I thought so. You see 'Xehanort' and I just recently found this, but only someone with a pure heart can lift the book. Someone without even a speck of Darkness clouding there heart. Just like your dear little friend, Ventus I believe? Now, I really must thank you all for getting this for me. But I'm afraid our little friendship ends here."

Aqua pointed her Keyblade at the man. "What did you do with Terra?"

"Oh don't worry, I haven't hurt any of dear little Ventus's friends," the man said, smirking at Ven.

Aqua growled under her breath and sprung at the man with her Keyblade. He brought up his spear and blocked her, and she fell to the ground, her Keyblade vanishing into thin air.

"Aqua!" Ven yelled, running towards his friend. The man threw him back with his spear before he could reach her though. Ven got flung backwards into the wall. I glared at the man.

"Why are you doing this?!" I yelled at him. "Xehanort's _evil!"_

The man chuckled softly; he bent down and picked up the book from where Ventus had dropped it. "Do you really think so? Then I suppose you will think that I am as well. This book tells of ways to seal Kingdom Hearts, which would have put a stop to Master Xehanort's plans."

I pulled out my Keyblade and charged the man. But it probably wasn't a good idea to go at him with my Keyblade. He blocked me, and I was shot back by some magical force that sent me spiraling down to the floor. The last thing I remembered hearing before I passed out was Kairi yelling my name.


End file.
